
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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FOUR 
AMERICAN EXPLORERS 



CAPTAIN iVIERIWETHER LEWIS 

CAPTAIN WILLIAM CLARK 

GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT 

DR. ELISHA K. KANE 



A BOOK FOR YOUNG AMERICANS 

BY 

NELLIE F. KINGSLEY 




WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



The Four Great Americans Series 

Edited by DR. JAMES BALDWIN 



LIFE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS FOR YOUNG 
AMERICAN READERS 

Illustrated by Portraits, Maps, and Views. Cloth, 50 cents 
each volume. 



Franklin 

Lincoln 



III 



IV 



FOUR GREAT AMERICANS 

Washington 

Webster 

By James Baldwin^ Ph. D. 
FOUR AMERICAN PATRIOTS 

Henry Hamilton 

Jackson Grant 

By Alma Holman Burtoji 
FOUR AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

Paul Jones Perry 

Farragut Dewey 

By Mabel Borton Beebe 
FOUR AMERICAN POETS 

Bryant 

Whittier 



hoLMEr"^-^^"^8S, 

By Sherwin Cody ' ^^ ^"^l" ^^"^^^ 

APR. 28 1902 



FOUR FAMOUS AMERICAN WRITERS 

POE \ 'V.»«/PI(»MT PNTRV 



Irving 
Lowell 



VI 



vir 



VIII 



IX 



Taylof 
By Sherwin Cody 
FOUR AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Boone Clark 

C340CKETT.. CARSOr^t, 

; ,i^y •FraKces M. Perry and Katherine Beebe 

'FOUR 'AMERICAN INVENTORS 

Fulton Whitney 

■. .-.Morse; .«. Edison 

« ; ', ; By Frances M. Perry 
'ifOUR AMfeRiCAN EXPLORERS 

Lewis and Clark Kane 

Fremont 

By Nellie F. Kingsley 

GREAT AMERICAN EDUCATORS 
Mann Lyon 

Page Barnard, et al. 

By Dr. A. E. Winship 

other volumes in preparation 



CLAS4S ex XXo. N« 
COPY B. 



Copyright. 1902, by WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 



CONTENTS 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



Introduction . - - - 

I The Two Captains 

II The Start . . . . 

III June and July _ . - - 

IV The First Indian Council - 

V The Mountain of Little People 

VI The Council with the Sioux 

VII An Indian Dance - - - . 

VIII Winter Among the Mandans 

IX Indian Hunts . - . - 

X The Mandan Indians 

XI The Winter .... 

Xll Fights with Grizzly Bears 

XIII An Important Decision 

XIV Making a Cache 

XV An Exciting Morning - 

' XVI Passing the Falls 

XVII Up the Jefferson River 

XVIII The Columbia River Reached 

XIX Among the Indians 

XX Hesitation . . . . 

XXI Down the Snake River - 

XXII Down the Columbia - 

XXIII Fort Clatsop and the Start Home - 

XXIV Ascent of the Columbia 

XXV Crossing the Bitter Root Mountains 

XXVI Captain Lewis's Adventures 

XXVII Captain Clark's Adventures - 

XXVIII The End of the Great Expedition 



9 
17 
24 

30 
34 
38 
41 
45 
50 
53 
57 
60 
62 
66 
69 
71 
74 
80 
84 
. 88 
92 
96 

99 

104 
109 
112 
117 
124 
128 



JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I A Start in Life - - - - - I35 

n First Work for the Government - - 139 

HI Second Expedition with Nicollet - - 144 

IV Marriage ------ 149 

V First Independent Western Expedition - 152 

VI The Party Divided . . . - 156 

VII Second Independent Expedition - - 160 

VIII In the Far Northwest - - - - 166 

IX Over the Sierra Nevadas - - - - 168 

X The Descent into the Valley - - 170 

XI Homeward ------ 173 

XII Troubles with the Mexicans - - 176 

XIII A Government Message . - . . 179 

XIV Fremont's War - - • - - - 184 
XV The Fourth Expedition - - - - 192 

XVI The Last Years of Life - . - 196 



ELISHA KENT KANE 

I Boyhood 

II Studies Medicine 

III In Foreign Lands 

IV In Mexico 

V ' Sent to the Arctic Seas - 

VI In the Polar Regions - 

VII Fast in the Ice 

VIII Bears and Walruses - 

IX Traces of Franklin 

X Winter in the Ice 

XI Off for Home 

XII Plans for a New Expedition - 

XIII Journeying by Land and Sea 

XIV A Visit from Eskimos - 
XV Another Arctic Winter - 

XVI The "Advance" Left in the Ice 

XVII Home Again - 



203 
206 
210 
213 
216 
222 
227 
231 
236 
242 
245 
248 
252 
256 
260 
265 
267 






V N,V\,, 







THE STORY OF 
CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS 

AND 

CAPTAIN WILLIAM CLARK 



INTRODUCTION 

The exploration of the Mississippi River was 
accomplished by the French a little more than two 
hundred years ago. La Salle, in 1682, was the first 
white man to trace the course of that great stream 
to the place where its waters flow into the Gulf of 
Mexico. Landing upon an island at the mouth of 
the river, he set up the arms of France, and took 
possession of the country in the name of King 
Louis XIV. 

To the entire region drained by the Mississippi 
and its tributaries he gave the name of Louisiana, 
in honor of the king. This region included the 
greater part of what is now the United States. 
It extended from the Alleghany Mountains to the 
Rockies, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

The French made a few settlements and estab- 
lished trading-posts at different places along the 
Mississippi ; but they never advanced far into the 
country that bordered it on the west. The whole 
of that vast region remained an unknown land. 

9 



lO INTRODUCTION 

Now and then the Indians who visited the 
French trading-posts would tell strange stories of 
a mighty river that flowed westward, of a lake 
whose waters were bitter with salt, and of a strange 
people in the Far West who rode on horseback and 
wore armor. But no white man had ventured far 
enough into those wilds to prove or disprove the 
truth of these tales. 

It had been one of La Salle's dreams that a 
waterway extended from the region of the Great 
Lakes to the Pacific Ocean. He thought that such 
a waterway, once discovered, would afford a direct 
route across the continent — a route by which China 
and the East could be easily and quickly reached. 
For at that time nobody knew how far it was to 
the Pacific coast, nor was the great width of the 
western ocean taken into account. 

After the death of La Salle other Frenchmen 
hoped to find that his dream was true ; and the 
stories which the Indians related of a great river 
west of the Mississippi encouraged their hopes. 

At length a French Canadian known as the 
Sieur de Verendrye determined to explore the 
western country, and if possible discover the long- 
sought water-route to the Pacific. He had been 
for several years in command of a fort and trading- 



INTRODUCTION 1 1 

post near the head of Lake Superior, and the Sioux 
Indians who visited him there had related most 
wonderful things about the region which they said 
lay between their own country and the setting sun. 

Anxious to be the first to explore that myste- 
rious land, he laid his plans before the king of 
France, hoping to receive some sort of aid. The 
king was very much pleased, and was entirely 
willing that he should undertake the expedition 
at his own expense. He told Verendrye that he 
might have the exclusive trade in furs in whatever 
country he should discover, but as for any further 
encouragement he must not expect it. 

Like other explorers, some of whom have been 
more successful than he, Verendrye was not to be 
discouraged. In 1731, with his three sons and a 
company of Canadian adventurers, he set out for 
the distant West. Early in the following year the 
party reached the western shore of the Lake of 
the Woods, and there built a fort. This was hun- 
dreds of miles beyond any other post or settle- 
ment that had yet been established. 

Here Verendrye remained for four or five 
years, trading with the Indians and exploring vast 
stretches of country on every side. In 1738, he 
pushed still farther west, and built a log fort on 



12 INTRODUCTION 

the Assiniboine River. Troubles and disappoint- 
ments, however, were constantly at hand: The 
presents which had been intended for the Indians 
were stolen, some of the men died, and others 
were dissatisfied and rebellious. 

In spite of all this, however, Verendrye made a 
journey southward into the country of the Man- 
dans, and reached the Missouri River at some 
point now in the state of North Dakota. The 
Mandans repeated the old story of a great west- 
ward-flowing river, and told him that, at the dis- 
tance of only one day's journey farther west, there 
lived a nation of men who rode horses and went 
into battle with their bodies incased in iron. 

After suffering great hardships, Verendrye, 
utterly disheartened, returned to Canada. The 
work which he had undertaken now devolved upon 
his sons. With their headquarters still on the 
Assiniboine, they made various expeditions into 
the vast unknown region towards the sources of 
that river and the Missouri. On one of these 
expeditions they saw the towering peaks of a 
range of mountains, probably the Big Horn Range, 
in what is now the northern part of Wyoming. 

Returning to the Missouri, they buried near its 
banks a leaden plate containing the arms of France, 



INTRODUCTION 13 

and took formal possession of the country in the 
name of King Louis XV. 

The elder Verendrye, broken-hearted on account 
of his many failures, died in 1749, and a French 
officer of great courage and enterprise named 
Legardeur de St. Pierre was sent out to continue 
the search for the mysterious western river. 

From the fort on the Assiniboine, St. Pierre 
sent a party up the Saskatchewan River to a point 
considerably farther than had yet been reached 
by white men. There they obtained a good view 
of the great mountains to the westward, and gave 
to them the name which they still bear — Mon- 
ta^nes des Roches, or Rocky Mountains. This was 
in 1 75 1. Soon afterward St. Pierre sent out a 
second party; but it never returned, nor did any 
news of its fate ever reach the lonely post on the 
Assiniboine. 

Discouraged on account of the many difficulties 
which he was unable to overcome, St. Pierre 
returned to Canada in 1753. The French and 
Indian War was just then beginning, and the ex- 
ploration of the West was abandoned. For fifty 
years longer the vast region remained an unknown 
land, inhabited by wild Indians and visited only by 
strolling traders, trappers, and French voyageurs. 



14 



INTRODUCTION 



In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then at 
the head of the French government, ceded the 
whole vast territory of Louisiana to the United 
States. The price which he received was fifteen 




THE LOUISIANA 
PURCHASE 



million dollars. The region thus transferred to our 
government included all the country west of the 
Mississippi and between the possessions of Spain 
on the south and those of Great Britain on the 
north. It embraced the territory comprising the 
present states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, 
Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, and Wyoming, besides 
a portion of Idaho and the greater part of Colo- 
rado, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. 



INTRODUCTION 



15 



At the time this great purchase was. made, 
Thomas Jefferson was President of the United 
States. 

For many years Jefferson had had in mind the 
exploration of that unknown land. Long before 
it had come into the 
possession of the 
United States he had 
encouraged John 
Ledyard, an Amer- 
ican traveler, to un- 
dertake such an ex- 
ploration. 

It was Ledyard's 
plan to reach the 
great West by trav- 
eli ng eastward. 
Sailing from New 
York, he first visited 
Paris, after which he 
journeyed through Germany, Sweden, and north- 
ern Russia, arriving finally at Irkutsk, then as now 
the most important town in Siberia. It was his 
intention to continue onward to some seaport in 
Kamchatka, and then to cross the Pacific to North 
America. But at Irkutsk he was arrested by 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 



1 6 INTRODUCTION 

Russian officers, who carried him back to Poland, 
and assured him that if he again entered Russia 
he should suffer death. Disappointed, ragged, 
and penniless, he made his way back to London, 
and all his plans were abandoned. 

A few years after this, through Mr. Jefferson's 
encouragement, another effort was made to send 
an exploring party into the regions watered by the 
Missouri. A company was actually formed, and 
placed under the command of Andre Michaux, a 
famous French botanist and traveler. But before 
the expedition had crossed the Mississippi, Michaux 
was recalled by his own government. 

At last, however, the time came when the 
world should no longer remain in ignorance con- 
cerning the land that had hitherto been unvisited 
and unknown. Scarcely had the transfer been 
made to the United States before President Jef- 
ferson had perfected his plans for an expedition 
thither to explore its rivers and mountains and 
discover its hidden resources. By his recom- 
mendation this expedition was placed under the 
command of two young Virginians, Captain Meri- 
wether Lewis and Captain William Clark; and 
before the summer of 1803 was ended a company 
was formed and on its way to the West. 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



CHAPTER I 

THE TWO CAPTAINS 

Meriwether Lewis was just eight months old 
when the first guns of our Revolutionary War 
were fired at Lexington. He was born near Char- 
lottesville, Virginia, not far from the home of 
Thomas Jefferson. 

The Lewis family was one of the most distin- 
guished in Virginia, and Meriwether's father and 
uncles were noted for their courage and patriotism. 
All were wealthy and enterprising, and one of his 
granduncles had married a sister of George Wash- 
ington. 

From his very cradle the lad was accustomed 
to hear much talk of brave deeds done for the 
love of country ; and as soon as he was able to 
run about by himself he began to show a daring 
spirit that was very wonderful in a child of his age. 
It is said that when only eight years of age he 

17 



1 8 LEWIS AND CLARK 

would often go out at night, alone with his dogs, 
to hunt raccoons and opossums in the dark woods. 
What a fearless little fellow he must have been! 

In the pursuit of his game nothing could dis- 
courage him. Wading throu'gh deep snow and 
streams of icy water, and caring naught for storms 
or darkness, he would press onward when even 
stout men had given up the chase. And so it con- 
tinued throughout his whole life : when he made 
up his mind to do a thing, he was quite sure to 
do it. 

When he was thirteen years old he was sent to 
a famous Latin school in Charlottesville, kept by 
two parsons of the village. We do not know that 
he distinguished himself as a Latin scholar, but 
we are told that he had a great love for nature, 
and that the objects which he delighted most to 
study were the plants and animals of Virginia. 

He left school when he was eighteen, and with 
a younger brother undertook the management of 
his mother's farm, for his father had died several 
years before. But farming was dull business for 
one of his adventurous nature, and before he was 
twenty-one he enlisted as a volunteer in the state 
militia. 

Two years later he was chosen captain of his 



THE TWO CAPTAINS IQ 

company, and soon afterward became the pay- 
master of the regiment. A young man who shows 
himself to be both able and enterprising is almost 
always sure of promotion. 

When Thomas Jefferson became President of 
the United States, he looked about him for a pri- 
vate secretary, and could find no one better suited 
for the place than Meriwether Lewis. It must be 
confessed, however, that, with all his good qualities, 
the young man was a very poor speller. 

It was in March, 1801, when Lewis entered the 
service of the President. He was then nearly 
twenty-seven years old. Two years later Mr. Jef- 
ferson appointed him leader of the exploring party 
which the government was about to send to the 
Far West. 

*'I could have no hesitation in confiding the 
enterprise to him," said the President. Why? 
Because he was known to be a man of courage and 
firmness and perseverance; because he was a born 
leader of men; because he had studied the charac- 
ter of the Indians, and knew how to deal with 
them; because he was a skilled hunter and under- 
stood all the lore of the woods; and because he 
was honest, liberal, exact, and truthful. 

Seldom has any man been better fitted by 



u 



20 LEWIS AND CLARK 

nature and education for a great undertaking like 
this. He needed only to learn the scientific terms 
used in botany, and how to make such astronom- 
ical observations as might be necessary in describ- 
ing his journey; and to acquire this knowledge 
he spent two busy months in Philadelphia, re- 
ceiving instruction from the ablest professors in 
that city. 

Early in July he was ready to start on his 
famous journey. Astronomical instruments, pres- 
ents for the Indians, tents, and various other sup- 
plies had been ordered, and these he was to find 
at Pittsburg. The men who were to accompany 
him were to be selected at various settlements 
and posts along the Ohio. 

President Jefferson was too wise and cautious 
to intrust so great an undertaking to one man. 
He knew that if Captain Lewis lived, all would go 
well. But what if some accident should befall him, 
and the expedition have no leader? To provide 
against such an emergency he selected Captain 
William Clark, at that time living near Louisville, 
Kentucky, to be Lewis's companion and helper. 

Who was this Captain William Clark? 

He was the younger brother of General George 
Rogers Clark, the famous Virginian commander, 



22 LEWIS AND CLARK 

who in 1780 drove the British from the Old North- 
west and won that vast region for America. 

William Clark, like Meriwether Lewis, was 
born near Charlottesville, Virginia. He was only 
ten years of age at the time of his brother's famous 
triumph, and before he was old enough to bear 
arms the Revolutionary War was ended. 

When he was fourteen his parents moved to 
Kentucky and settled near the falls of the Ohig, 

! where Louisville now stands. The place was in 
the heart of the wilderness. A fort was there, 
and around it were clustered the cabins of a few 
backwoodsmen. All else was a wild solitude. 

Young William had not the advantages of a 
modern education, but he was schooled in the 
rough experiences of frontier life. We know very 
little about his boyhood and youth, but that he 
proved himself both brave and honorable there is 
no doubt. Before he was seventeen he was admit- 

\ ted into the famous society of the Cincinnati, and 
his certificate of membership was signed by Gen- 
eral Washington. 

At eighteen he became an ensign in the army 
under General St. Clair, and at twenty-one he was 
made a lieutenant. When General Wayne made 
his famous expedition against the Indians of the 



THE TWO CAPTAINS 23 

Northwest, Captain William Clark went with him, 
having command of a rifle company. 

When the Indian war was over he resigned 
from the army and went back to Kentucky. There 
he settled on a farm not far from Louisville, where 
he lived in quiet for several years. 

To Captain Lewis and President Jefferson no 
other man seemed better fitted to aid in conduct- 
ing the exploration of the Far West. Both were 
well acquainted with him, and they knew him to 
be a person of rare good judgment, accustomed 
to the rough life of the frontier. 

It was at Captain Lewis's invitation that Clark 
consented to join the expedition. And late in the 
fall of 1803 the two men met at Louisville, and 
then went on to St. Louis with the little company 
that had been collected on the way. 

In those days news traveled very slowly, and 
the French officers at St. Louis had not yet heard 
of the sale of the country to the United States. 
As winter was now. setting in, the two captains 
with their party encamped on the east side of the 
Mississippi and waited for spring. The long, cold 
mxOnths were spent in drilling the men and in 
making things ready for the start as soon as the 
ice should disappear from the Missouri. 



CHAPTER II 

THE START 

On Monday, the 14th of May, 1804, at four 
o'clock of a rainy afternoon, an odd-looking craft 
slowly entered the current of the Missouri River at 
the point where it pours its yellow, tumbling tide 
into the Mississippi. This strange vessel was fifty- 
five feet long, and was propelled by twenty-two 
oars. It had also a square sail, which was hoisted 
when the wind was favorable. 

In the bow and stern of the boat were little 
ten-foot decks with cabins beneath. The space 
between the decks was filled with lockers or boxes, 
which could be lifted up for a breastwork in case 
an enemy should attack the boat. Great boxes 
and bales of goods had been carefully packed 
below. 

If we could have looked into these boxes, we 
should have seen clothes and tools, household 
goods and utensils, and great quantities of guns 
and ammunition. There were laced coats, cocked 
hats, bright feathers, medals, flags, knives, toma- 

24 



THE START 



25 



hawks, beads, looking-glasses, bright handkerchiefs, 
paints, gimlets, axes, kettles, mills, and various 
other things that were supposed to be pleasing to 
the Indians. 

At the side of 
the large boat 
were two small 
rowboats. In these 
and in the larger 
vessel were woods- 
men, hunters, 
guides, servants, 
and soldiers — 
forty-five men in 
all. One young 
man was in com- 
mand. Along the 
shore two men 
were leading the 
hunters' horses. Slowly the boats made their 
way against the strong current; but to those who 
watched them from the shore, they were soon out 
of sight in the mist and rain. 

A rainy night set in, and the party landed and 
went into camp only four miles above their start- 
ing-place. The river's yellow, sullen flood rolled 




THE START 



26 LEWIS AND CLARK 

by them, carrying with it masses of shifting sands 
and tumbling tree-trunks. There was danger that 
these tree-trunks might come in contact with the 
great boat as it struggled against the stream, and 
wreck it with all its contents. This danger was 
increased because the boat was too heavily loaded 
at the stern. 

On the next day, therefore, the carefully stored 
bales and boxes were removed from their places 
and shifted into the bow of the boat. This took 
time and hard work, but after it was done the little 
vessel moved not only with greater safety, but with 
more speed. 

In the afternoon of the third day of their jour- 
ney they arrived at the little town of St. Charles, 
about twenty-one miles from their starting-place, 
and here they determined to stop for a time. Here 
they found gay French people, living a careless, 
happy life, supporting themselves by hunting and 
trade and the products of their beautiful gardens. 

These people warmly welcomed the travelers, 
and made their stay of five days as pleasant as 
could be desired. 

^Captain Lewis, who had been detained in St. 
Louis, now joined the party, and on the 21st of 
May the voyage was resumed. 



THE START 27 

For many days the explorers slowly worked 
their way up the river, passing creeks and islands, 
which they carefully described, and to which they 
gave such queer names as ''Turkey," ''Nightin- 
gale," "Lark," "Buffalo," etc., from the objects 
they happened to see in the neighborhood. While 
the boats moved slowly up the river, the hunters 
on shore were plunging through brushwood, clam- 
bering up cliffs, crawling into caves, and skirting 
prairies in search of game. 

These hunters would hurry ahead of the party 
on the river, fix a camp, shoot, dress, and bring in 
their game, and then wait for the rest of the party 
to reach them. Sometimes they would leave the 
game dressed and hung on trees while they pushed 
on and made another camp still farther ahead. 
Sometimes a hunter would not be seen for days 
and weeks, and would be given up for lost. Then 
suddenly he would reappear, gaunt, half-starved, 
lame, and ill, but plucky and uncomplaining and 
ready for anqther hunt the next day. These 
French woodsmen and hunters knew how to find 
their way in the woods as naturally as they knew 
ho^ to breathe. They loved the woods and would 
not be induced to leave them on any account. 

Once in a while the voyagers would pass a 



28 LEWIS AND CLARK 

French trader's boat, loaded with beaver furs or 
buffalo tallow, on its slow way to St. Louis. The 
Frenchmen always brought news from the western 
country and had much to tell about the Indian 
tribes who lived there. 

One of the first tribes encountered by our ex- 
plorers was that of the Osages. These were a 
peaceable people who lived in villages and culti- 
vated the land. Though courageous, they were 
less savage than most Indian tribes. They told 
Captain Lewis strange tales of their origin. 

They said that the founder of their nation was 
a snail which lived long ago on the banks of the 
Osage River. One day this snail was swept by 
high water down the river into the Missouri, and 
after being tumbled over and over and badly 
knocked about, was left lying high and dry on the 
shore. Here the sun hatched him into a man; 
but he did not forget the home he had known 
when a snail, and at once set off to find it. But 
walking was hard work, and he soon grew very 
faint from hunger and thirst. Then the Great 
Spirit gave him a bow and arrow, and showed him 
how to kill and cook a deer and how to dress Kim- 
self in the skin. So fed and dressed, the snail- 
man traveled on until he reached the home river- 



THE START 



29 



bank, where he met a beaver. The beaver asked 

him who he was and what he was doing, and 

ordered him to go away. But the snail-man would 

not go, for he knew this was his home. While 

they were quarreling, the beaver's daughter came 

out of the river 

to see what was 

the matter. She 

offered to marry 

the snail-man, 

who accepted her 

as his wife. Their 

children were the 

Osage Indians. 

Because they 
believed this charming beaver to have been their 
great - great — nobody - knows - how - many - times - 
great — grandmother, the Osages regarded all 
beavers with great respect. Until quite recently 
they had very carefully refrained from harming 
any of these animals. When the traders' price for 
beaver skins, however, became so high as to be a 
serious temptation, they could no longer restrain 
themselves, but sacrificed their beaver relatives to 
their love of money, very much as some people 
who are not called savages are said to do nowadays. 




BEAVERS 



CHAPTER III 
JUNE AND JULY 

The explorers did not remain long in the coun- 
try of the Osages. On a bright June day they 
resumed their journey, the men slowly working 
their heavy boats up the river, w^hile the two cap- 
tains examined the shores. Sometimes they found 
curious rocks on which were painted rude pictures 
of animals or of frightful human faces with spread- 
ing deer's horns attached. The days were full of 
exciting incidents. The captains searched for salt 
springs; they killed rattle-snakes, gathered water- 
cress and tongue-grass, wrote descriptions of the 
country, and feasted on the fruits they gathered 
in the woods. Whenever good ash trees were 
found upon the banks, the men would make new 
oars. Whenever a strange bird or animal could 
be caught, it was ''cured" as a specimen to be 
carried back to Washington. 

For some time the party had no guide, but 
one day meeting some French traders who knew 
the country well, they persuaded one of them 

30 



JUNE AND JULY , 31 

whose name was Durlon to go with them and 
help them. 

-^jQn June 26th the explorers reached the mouth 
of the Kansas River, and found there a country 
abounding in goats, antelopes, and wild turkeys. 

Antelopes were then almost unknown, and 
Lewis and Clark observed their habits with much 
interest. They ... ^ - 

never ceased to x ^ - =; - / ^ . \^ 

wonder at the speed 
with which these 
animals could run 
and the great dis- 
tance from which 
they could scent an 

■^ . ANTELOPES 

enemy. It was in- 
teresting to watch the hunters as they tried to 
catch them. Hiding in the long grass, the hunter 
would put his hat on a stick and carefully lift it 
up into sight. Soon the antelope, curious to find 
out what the strange object was, would creep up 
within range of the gun, and fall a victim to 
curiosity. Wolves would sometimes hide among 
the grass until the unsuspecting antelopes were 
close to them, when they would suddenly leap out 
and seize as many as they could. 




32 / LEWIS AND CLARK 



^ On the Fourth of July the men celebrated the 
day by firing off the little cannon at the end of the 
boat. But time was too precious to lose in cele- 
brations, and so their boats swung on past Gosling 
Creek and Fourth of July Creek and Independ- 
ence Creek, and the day closed with another shot 
from the air-gun. 

The July weather must have been very warm. 
Almost every day men fell with sunstroke. Large 
boils or carbuncles appeared on the muscles of 
their bodies. To work the oars sometimes caused 
great agony to the men. 

The leaders feared the water might be bad. 
They examined it, and found a poisonous chemical 
in the green scum on the surface. Orders were 
given not to drink the surface water, but to dip 
deep and get the pure water below. Poor fellows 
who were bitten by snakes were treated with poul- 
tices of bark and gunpowder, which cured them 
every time. 

At last the Platte River was reached. There 
the sailors carried out a curious custom. It seems 
that the passing of the Platte River is regarded by 
Missouri River boatmen just as the crossing of the 
equinoctial line is regarded by sailors on the sea. 
To mark the passing of it every man in the party 



JUNE AND JULY t^t, 

who had never been there before was caught and 
shaved, unless he could ''stand treat" to his com- 
rades. Near the mouth of this river a camp was 
made, and the party spent a few days in airing and 
drying their stores, which had been wet in many 
rains. They also made observations, drew maps, 
wrote up their journals, and prepared messages 
for the President. 

Game was scarce, but Indians were not. Hoping 
to become better acquainted with some of the 
latter, Lewis and Clark sent out invitations to a 
council. After a few days the Kites, Ottoes, and 
Pawnees appeared to hear what the white men 
had to say. The Kites, — so called because they 
were always flying about, — were fierce and war- 
like, cruel to their captured enemies, and never 
known to give up a battle. Because of their 
warring habits they were few in number. 

On the second of August, just at sunset, the 
captains were met by a party of fourteen braves 
of the Ottoes with their French interpreter. A 
council was arranged for the next morning, and 
an elegant present of pork, flour, and meal was 
sent across the river to the Indian camp. 

The Indians returned the compliment by send- 
ing watermelons to the palefaces. , 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FIRST INDIAN COUNCIL 

Bright and early the next morning the whole 
party of white men was drawn up in line, in order 
to make a great impression upon the Indians. 
The Indians sat under an awning made of the 
mainsail of the large boat. Captain Lewis opened 
the council by making a speech, in which he told 
the red men that the United States now owned 
their land, and that their Great Father, the Presi- 
dent, sent them greetings, good wishes, and prom- 
ises of protection. 

The six Indian chiefs said in reply that they 
were glad to belong to the United States, just as 
they had probably said they were glad to belong 
to Spain or France in years before. They asked 
for guns and ammunition to kill both deer and 
enemies, and asked for help in their war with the 
Omahas. Medals were given to the chiefs who 
were present, together with some gorgeous paints, 
garters, and powder. A United States flag, a 
medal, and some gay clothes were sent to the 

34 



THE FIRST INDIAN COUNCIL 35 

great chief of the Ottoes, who could not come 
with the rest. A shot from the air-gun put an 
end to the conference, and caused great alarm 
among the Indians. 

The place where this council was held was 
called Council Bluffs, and the city in Iowa which 
bears this name, although not on exactly the same 
spot, derived its name from this 
circumstance. 

Lewis and Clark were much 
pleased with the success of 
their first council, and break- 
ing up camp set sail late in the 
afternoon. The following^ nig^ht 

1 r ^T r PELICANS 

was passed m a place so full of 
mosquitoes that the men suffered torments. In- 
deed, from the various reports of the men, one 
would think the mosquitoes were worse than the 
savages, and I am not sure but they were. 

Moving on after a wearing night with these 
pests, the travelers passed an island where hun- 
dreds of queer birds called pelicans lived. You 
have seen pictures of pelicans, and know about 
the great bag or pouch on their necks. One day 
the men poured five gallons of water into one of 
these bags before it was filled. * 




36 LEWIS AND CLARK 

Early in August they came to the burial-place 
of a great and awful chief of the Omaha nation 
named Blackbird. The chief had died of small- 
pox, as had whole villages of his people. He was 
buried sitting erect on horseback. His burial 
mound was on the river-bank three hundred feet 
above the water. He was a much feared chief, 
and the fear of him remained even after he was 
dead. Food was brought great distances by the 
Indians and placed upon the burial mound. On 
the staff above this dead warrior's grave Lewis 
and Clark fastened an American flag. 

Invitations were sent to the tribe of Omaha 
Indians, of which Blackbird had been a chief, to 
join in a council with the white men. The deliver- 
ing of these invitations was no easy matter. They 
were not sent by mail, but carried by armed men, 
who had to break their way through miles of 
thistles, tangled grass, and thickets of sunflowers. 
When they reached the place where the Omahas' 
village had stood, they found it no longer existed. 
It had been burned down after four hundred men 
and many women and children had died of small- 
pox. This horrible disease had probably been 
brought to them by some war party. Crazed by 
its awful ravages, the survivors had killed their 



THE FIRST INDIAN COUNCIL 



7^1 



wives and children that they might escape a worse 
death, and then set fire to the village. 

Back of the ruins the men saw the graves of 
the dead. Hoping the Indians might hear of their 
arrival, they waited 
there a day or two. 
While waiting they 
made a kind of drag 
of willow sticks and 
swept the stream for 
fish. Their first land- 
ing gave them three 
hundred and eighteen 
fish. The second time 
they drew out the drag 
eight hundred fish 

came with it. Despairing at last of seeing the 
savages whom they sought, the men now set fire 
to the woods. This was the usual method of 
invitation among Indian tribes, and was also used 
by French traders to announce their arrival at any 
particular place. 

A day later some Ottoe chiefs with their men 
arrived. A friendly council was held, and after the 
usual exchange of gifts the Indians rode away much 
impressed with the greatness of the white men. 




INDIAN METHOD OF BURIAL 



CHAPTER V 

THE MOUNTAIN OF LITTLE PEOPLE 

On a hot day in the latter part of August some 
time was spent in examining a queer mound and 
hearing the stories which the Indians told about it. 

This mound was called '' The Mountain of Little 
People." The young captains and ten men reached 
it after an uncomfortable walk of many miles. 
Indeed, the weather was so hot that even the dog 
was forced to return to the camp after going part 
of the way. 

The mound was strangely divided and stood 
alone nine miles from any other hills. The view 
from the top was charming. Here the Indians 
believed the "Little People" or ''Little Spirits" 
lived. They said these Little People were a foot 
and a half high and had very large heads. With 
sharpened arrows they killed any one who dared 
come to their mountain. 

The captains and their men, however, spent 
several hours on the mound, and were hurt by no 
arrows but those of the sun. They carefully 

38 



THE MOUNTAIN OF LITTLE PEOPLE 39 

scanned the wide plain, dotted with herds of 
shaggy buffaloes. They examined the soil, gath- 
ered specimens of the plants growing there, and 
noted the birds they saw. But the heat on the 
hill finally became so intense that they were 




THE SIOUX VILLAGE 



forced to seek the shade of some neighboring 
bushes. Later in the day they returned to the 
boats, refreshing themselves on the way back by 
gathering and eating plums, grapes, and currants. 
In the evening they set fire to the woods to call 
in the neighboring Sioux." In response to this 
invitation five Sioux chiefs and about seventy men 
and boys appeared on the opposite side of the 



40 LEWIS AND CLARK 

river and went into camp. A boat was sent over 
to them loaded with a present of tobacco and four 
kettles. Then the men gathered about the mes- 
sengers who had just returned from carrying their 
invitations to various tribes, eager to hear their 
experiences. 

It seemed that a village of the Sioux to which 
they had been sent was about twelve miles away. 
When the men arrived within sight of the village 
the Indians came out to meet them and welcome 
them. They tried to carry them back to the vil- 
lage seated on white buffalo skins. This the men 
would not allow; but they were so hungry that 
they gladly ate the good supper of dog's flesh 
which the Indians cooked for them. 

The men said the village was a very handsome 
one, v/ith its lodges covered with buffalo skins 
painted red and white. In each of these lodges 
fifteen or twenty people could comfortably live, 
since all their cooking was done out of doors or in 
separate wigwams. 

As the men listened to these stories the fire 
burned low. Then fresh logs were heaped upon 
it, the guard took his position, and one by one 
the tired hunters threw themselves down and all 
were soon overcome by sleep. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE COUNCIL WITH THE SIOUX 

When the heavy fog lifted next morning the 
party made ready for the great council. An Amer- 
ican flag was brought out and set up under a large 
oak. A gorgeous cocked hat with red feathers, a 
laced coat, medals, and certificates were laid ready, 
and at twelve o'clock the chiefs arrived from across 
the river. Captain Lewis made a long speech to 
them, in which he gave them much good advice 
and information. He then smoked the pipe of 
peace, and gravely distributed the presents among 
them. 

While the chiefs had been engaged in this 
council the young Indians had built a little booth 
of branches and leaves, and to this booth the 
chiefs withdrew to divide the presents and con- 
sider Lewis's speech. 

Meanwhile the boys and young men entertained 
themselves and the white men by shooting at tar- 
gets and showing their skill in many ways. The 
day was closed with a dance. During this dance 

41 



42 LEWIS AND CLARK 

Lewis and Clark gave to the red men knives, 
tobacco, tape, bells, and other gay or noisy trifles, 
which they accepted with many grunts of delight. 

After discussing Captain Lewis's speech, the 
chiefs made ready their answer. They said they 
were very poor and needed everything. They had 
no clothes, no guns, no powder, no shot. They 
were very glad to get the medals, but more glad 
to get the clothes. The English had once given 
them medals and clothes ; the Spaniards had given 
each man a medal, ''but nothing to keep it from 
their skins." Now they were still poor, for while 
the Americans had given them medals and clothes, 
their children and squaws had nothing at all. 

Other chiefs said the same thing, adding that 
they much wanted some of the '' Great Father's 
milk," which was their name for whisky. They 
also promised to go to Washington to visit the 
''Great Father," provided a guide would go with 
them. 

These interesting Indians were well built and 
strong, wearing the usual Indian blankets, much 
adorned with paint, feathers, and quills. Some 
wore necklaces of bear's claws, and all seemed 
brave and fearless ; but there was one band of 
young braves who outdid all the rest in a strange 



THE COUNCIL WITH THE SIOUX 43 

kind of courage. These young men were sworn 
never to yield to an enemy, and never to avoid 
any danger. They did not protect themselves in 
battle. If they were crossing a river on the ice 
and came to a hole, the leader, scorning to turn 
aside, would march straight ahead. Of course he 
would be drowned, and all the rest of the band 
would follow him unless they were held back by 
their friends. 

This seems very foolish to us, but it was cour- 
age of the grandest type to them. The young men 
who belonged to this band took higher seats in 
the councils than the chiefs, ^nd in all their amuse- 
ments and occupations they kept themselves apart 
from the other young men. 

It was now September, and there were many 
signs of fall in the air. The heavy woods which 
lined the shores and covered the islands became 
brilliant with the colors of autumn. The acorns 
were falling, and great numbers of deer could 
be seen feeding in the open glades. The river 
became more and more shallow as the explorers 
advanced upstream, and much delay was caused 
by the boats grounding on sand bars. 

Daily, vast herds of buffaloes and antelopes 
were seen. Many villages of prairie. dogs were also 



44 LEWIS AND CLARK 

passed. These villages consisted of little mounds, 
and holes in the ground in which the funny little 
dogs — looking much like squirrels — lived. 

The men once amused themselves by trying to 
fill up one of these holes with water, but after 
pouring in five barrels they succeeded only in driv- 
ing out the distracted little owner, which they 
caught. At another time they 
tried to reach the bottom of one 
of the holes by digging. After 
digging down six feet, they put 
in a pole and found they must dig 
at least six feet deeper to reach 

PRAIRIE DOGS , , 

the bottom. 
Soon after this a council was held with the 
Teton nation, which might have ended the expe- 
dition had not great wisdom been shown. After 
the usual speeches had been made and presents 
given, the explorers undertook to push their boats 
out into the stream. Immediately, however, at a 
signal from the Teton chief, an Indian threw both 
arms about the mast and refused to move ; at the 
same time three others seized the rope which 
fastened the boat to the shore. The savages 
had determined to keep the explorers with them 
another day if not longer. 




CHAPTER VII 
AN INDIAN DANCE 

Captain Clark made instant preparations for a 
fight. The small gun was pointed at the Indians, 
while they as quickly made ready their bows and 
arrows. Twelve soldiers sprang to the help of 
Captain Clark, and this act caused the Indians to 
hesitate and lay down their arms. They would 
not, however, shake Captain Clark's offered hand; 
but when he ordered the boat's small gun to be 
loaded, four of the Indians leaped into the water 
and swam out to the boat to talk with him. They 
said they did not intend to fight, but wanted more 
presents, and wished their squaws and children to 
see the strange boat. Captain Clark was glad to 
do this much to please them. So naming the 
island they were then near '' Bad-humored Island" 
in memory of this unpleasant time, they decided 
to remain near the Indian camp over night and 
witness an Indian dance. 

It was a wonderful dance. The great lodge of 
sewed skins was crowded full of red men. In the 

45 



46 LEWIS AND CLARK 

middle of the lodge sat the chief, with two little 
flags, one Spanish and one American, stuck into 
the ground in front of him. The peace pipe was 
placed on two forked sticks a few inches from the 
ground, and swan's down was scattered under it. 




THE PEACE PIPE 



When everything was ready, the chief made a 
speech, and taking up a bit of the fat dog that 
was cooking for the feast held it out toward the 
flag. I suppose this was an offering to the flag. 
Then he took the peace pipe and pointed it 
toward heaven, toward the four quarters of the 
globe, and finally to the earth, after which he 
lighted it and gave it to Lewis and to Clark. 

The pipe ceremony being ended, the supper 
was served. Platters were set out and horn 



AN INDIAN DANCE 47 

spoons given to the men. The flesh of a fat dog, 
some dried buffalo meat which had been pounded 
up and mixed raw with grease, and a queer dish of 
potatoes were served to all the guests. They ate 
all they could, and smoked all they could, but 
were glad when the dance was announced and the 
musicians took their places. 

The music was even worse than the supper. 
There were men with tambourines, men shaking 
sticks to which were fastened rattling hoofs of 
deer and goats, and men rattling pebbles in bags 
of dried skins. This was the Indian orchestra; 
and when a chorus of Indian voices was added, the 
troubles of our friends grew almost too great to 
be borne. 

And now the dance began. Indian women 
came shuffling forward carrying poles elaborately 
decorated with the scalps of the nation's enemies. 
Then Indian men came out, leaping and jumping 
and reciting the stories of their own brave and 
cruel deeds. Late into the night the dance kept 
on, but long before its close Lewis and Clark had 
gone to their boat, taking four of the chiefs with 
them. 

These people had many interesting customs. 
Though homely and vicious, they were cheerful 



48 LEWIS AND CLARK 

and happy. They wore their hair in long braids 
over their shoulders. These braids they cut off 
when a death occurred in the family. This they 
did in sign of mourning. 

Their bodies were painted with a combination 
of grease and coal, and over their shoulders they 
wore a painted buffalo skin, the fur inside in fair 
weather and outside in foul. They wore leggings 
trimmed with the scalps of their enemies, and 
when in full dress fastened a skunk skin to each 
heel and let it drag behind on the ground. 

They had a single policeman to whom they 
gave great powers. He was to guard the camp, 
and to give his life to protect his chief if the need 
came. Instead of a star he wore three raven skins 
fastened to his belt and sticking straight out be- 
hind. On his head was another raven skin split 
in two and arranged so that the head stuck out 
over the policeman's forehead. 

After remaining a few days with these people, 
our party found it hard to get away. A battle 
threatened and was avoided. The explorers were 
followed for miles along the banks. Three times 
they were stopped and presents demanded. But 
at last the Indians were shaken off and left behind. 

Farther up the river the Cheyennes were passed, 



AN INDIAN DANCE 49 

and after them the Ricaras. These latter Indians 
had their little patches of garden in which they 
raised corn, beans, and various other vegetables. 
They were kind to the old and never whipped 
their children. But they were said to be a treach- 
erous race, and the explorers for a time felt very 
distrustful of them. 

Their surprise when they saw Captain Clark*s 
colored man-servant was very funny to see. This 
man's name was York, and his delight in puzzling 
the Indians was as great as their surprise at his 
appearance. He told them he was really a wild 
animal that had been caught and tamed. He 
frightened them dreadfully with the faces he made 
up and the antics he performed. 

The Ricara Indians used no whisky, or strong 
drink of any kind, and they appeared to be much 
disgusted with any one who did. They gave 
Lewis and Clark handsome presents of corn and 
vegetables, and showed themselves generous and 
hospitable in every way. Many other tribes were 
seen and visited; but the weather grew cold and 
the ice became troublesome, and the explorers 
finally went into camp for the winter among the 
Mandan Indians, sixteen hundred miles above the 
mouth of the Missouri River. 



CHAPTER VIII 

WINTER AMONG THE MANDANS 

The Mandan Indians welcomed the explorers 
with presents, and joined them in many friendly 
councils. While Captain Lewis was conducting 
these important ceremonies, Captain Clark scouted 
up and down the river seeking a good spot for the 
winter's camp. In one place he found no wood, 
in another no game. At last, however, a fair 
place was chosen, with five villages of friendly 
Indians within easy reach. 

Some of the men began at once to fell trees 
for log huts. Others were engaged in building 
boats to carry messengers with maps and letters 
back to St. Louis. A blacksmith's shop was set 
up, and the merry ring of this blacksmith's ham- 
mer seemed to call the Indians from near and far 
loaded with corn and supplies. These they gladly 
exchanged for axheads, tomahawks, and bits of 
sheet iron cut into arrowheads. 

Hunting-gangs were organized, and left the 
camp early each morning, 'returning at night. 

50 



WINTER AMONG THE MANDANS 51 

Indians expert in woodcraft were hired as guides, 
and to the family of forty-five men was added a 
French interpreter with his squaw wife and family 
of half-breed children. 

Indian callers were frequent. The chiefs came 
stalking solemnly in, followed by their wives, who 
instead of cards and card-cases carried bundles of 
meat and baskets of corn and vegetables. These 
gifts were for the white men. In return, the white 
men gave Mrs. Indian such dainty little articles as 
axheads, iron kettles, files, and corn-mills, which 
she easily carried away on her broad shoulders. 

Almost every day large parties of Indians 
passed the camp on their fall hunting expeditions. 
Wild geese began to fly south. Ice came floating 
down the river. White frost covered the ground. 
Icicles hung from the trees. By night the pale 
light of the Aurora Borealis streamed above the 
camp, while the threatening flames of the prairie 
fire often startled them from their sleep. 

These dreadful fires sometimes swept the whole 
country, burning to death men and women and 
destroying cattle. One night an Indian woman 
with her half-breed son found a prairie fire sweep- 
ing down upon them. Instantly she threw a fresh 
buffalo skin over him and fled for her life. After 



52 LEWIS AND CLARK 

the fire had passed, the boy was found untouched. 
The Indians believed his life was charmed because 
of his white blood. A tree left standing by the 
fire they worshiped as an abiding-place of the 
Great Spirit. 

Neither prairie fires, scarcity of food, nor frost- 
bitten fingers and toes kept back the work on the 
huts. On the twentieth of November the camp 
was finished, and named Fort Mandan. Sur- 
rounded by tall Cottonwood trees, it lay on a low 
point of land on the norm bank of the Missouri 
River. It did not look much like a fort. There 
were two rows of rough log huts, with four rooms 
in each row. Each room was fourteen feet square 
and seven feet high. These two rows were joined 
together at an angle, and thus the rear walls formed 
two sides of a triangle. A row of stakes was 
driven to make the third side of the triangle. 
In the little yard made by the stakes and the 
backs of the huts were two rooms for storing meat. 

The hunters brought in the flesh of deer, elks, 
beavers, and buffaloes, and the captains tried hard 
to have the men take care of it. This they did not 
like to do. They used meat carelessly when they 
had it; and when they did not have it, they fasted 
and hoped their luck would turn. 



CHAPTER IX 

INDIAN HUNTS 

Those were great hunts they had in the neigh- 
borhood of Fort Mandan. Captain Clark went 
out alone one day and shot seven buffaloes. When 
night came on he was too far from camp to return. 
So he wrapped himself in his one thin blanket, 
heaped the fresh buffalo skins over him, and slept 
comfortably through a snowstorm. The next day 
he returned to camp and sent men out for the 
meat. 

Of course our hunters shot their game, but the 
Indians had much more interesting ways of secur- 
ing the animals which they used for food. Some- 
times they hunted buffaloes in this way. A young 
Indian would be sent out to find a cave or crevice 
on the edge of a bluff near which the animals 
were feeding. Soon he would disappear. In the 
meantime other Indians would arrive, and care- 
fully drive the herd toward the river. At a 
given moment the young hunter who had been 
seen before would appear at the head of the mov- 

53 



54 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



ing herd covered with a buffalo-skin. Carefully 
he would decoy the herd to the edge of the bluff , 




ONE METHOD OF HUNTING BUFFALOES 

then he would drop into the crevice he had found, 
while the buffaloes, frightened by the Indians 
behind, would plunge headlong over the brink. 



INDIAN HUNTS 55 

In this way hundreds of the great beasts would 
be killed. The Indians would take as much meat 
as they needed, and leave the rest for the vultures. 

At other times the Indian hunters on their 
trained ponies would surround a herd of feeding 
buffaloes. Choosing one of the finest, they would 
fire their arrows at him until he fell dead. This 
they would repeat with a second, a third, a fourth, 
until their arrows were gone. The squaws who 
followed the hunt would then come up and dress 
the game and carry it home. Of course, no one 
could claim a buffalo as his own unless his arrow 
was found sticking in the wound. The game 
belonged to the one who found it. But this did 
not make much difference, for it was the custom 
when game was in any one's lodge for the squaws 
of the tribe to go and sit by the lodge door until 
given a share of the game. 

In the spring the Indians would set fire to the 
dead grass on the river banks. After the fire 
new grass grew very quickly. This the buffaloes 
seemed to know at once, and would flock to the 
river, try to cross it on the floating ice, and either 
be shot by the Indians or, falling into the river, 
would swim and fall exhausted on the shore, 
where they were easily captured. 



56 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



The way they caught goats was interesting, too. 
A large pen would be built, to which a lane of 
bushes would lead. Cautiously encircling the 
goats, the hunters would drive them through the 
lane into the pen and kill them at their leisure. 

November passed, and winter, with the ther- 




MAP SHOWING FORT MANDAN 
AND ROUTE OF THE EXPLORERS 



mometer at 45 degrees 
below zero, was upon the 
explorers. Christmas day 
came, and, closing the camp to all 
Indians by telling them it was a 
great ''medicine" day for the 
white men, they prepared to enjoy the merry holi- 
day. First they ran up the American flag, and 
saluted it and the day by a shot from their large 
gun. They then prepared and ate as good a 
dinner as the place afforded, and the Christmas 
festivities were over. 



CHAPTER X 

THE MANDAN INDIANS 

These friendly Mandan Indians were really 
very interesting. They believed that in the be- 
ginning their tribe lived underground near a sub- 
merged lake. It was very quiet and dull down 
there. One day, however, one of their young 
braves found the great root of a grapevine that 
had pushed itself down deep into the ground. 
Seizing hold of it, he climbed up and up and 
up, until after a long time he came to the light. 
He looked all about, and saw grass and trees and 
animals and many kinds of fruit. He gathered 
some grapes, and then climbed down the long root 
of the grapevine and gave the fruit to his kinspeo- 
ple to eat. All tasted it, and liked it so well that 
they began to climb the grapevine root to find 
some more. A great number climbed safely up to 
the light, but at last one very fat woman broke 
the root with her weight. Down came the earth 
and shut the rest in below. 

Nine villages were built by those who had 

57 



58 LEWIS AND CLARK 

climbed out. All the good Mandans still hope 
when they die to return to the ancient village by 
way of the underground lake. The wicked can 
never cross the lake. One old Mandan, who had 
lived one hundred and twenty years, felt he was 
soon to die. He asked his grandchildren to dress 
him in his best clothes, and carry him to a hill and 
set him on a stone with his face turned down the 
river toward the ancient village, to which he be- 
lieved he would soon go. 

All these Indians believed in a Great Spirit or 
" great medicine." Healing was their religion, and 
anything they did not understand was great 
medicine. Each Indian had his own ''medicine." 
Sometimes it was a bag filled with strange things; 
sometimes it was a stone or an animal. 

If any of the tribe wished to find out something 
of the future, a party of warriors would go to a 
great smooth stone, twenty feet in circumference, 
which they called a medicine-stone. First the men 
would smoke to the stone; that is, they would take 
one whiff and then present the pipe to the stone. 
After this ceremony they would go away into the 
woods to sleep. In the morning white marks 
would be found on the stone, and there was always 
some one who could tell what the marks meant. 



THE MANDAN INDIANS 



59 




A MANDAN VILLAGE 



These Mandans were brave and cheerful, and 
never complained. To make them more brave, 
however, they had one very strange custom. A 
young Indian would make a hole in the skin of 
his neck, pass one end of a string through it, 
and fasten the other 
end to a tree. To 
bear the pain without 
flinching was a proof 
of his courage. They 
were unlike many other 
tribes in their kindly 
treatment of one an- 
other. If a man was brought in frozen or injured, 
the whole village tried to give help. If one was 
lost, the whole village would turn out to hunt 
him. To the aged and infirm they were very kind 
and gentle. If a friend or relative died, a finger 
or a toe was cut off in sign of mourning. 

There were plenty of occasions for mourning, 
for between the ravages of the smallpox and the 
devastations of the Sioux the Mandans, as well as 
other tribes, were daily becoming fewer in number. 
Whole villages were often left vacant. But in spite 
of their troubles they were a cheerful people, and 
found many ways of amusing themselves. 



CHAPTER XI 

//^ THE WINTER 

And so the winter wore on, with bitter cold days, 
little food, and many frost-bitten toes and fingers. 
Skirmishing with unfriendly tribes, trying to thaw 
the ice about the boats, treating the sick Mandans, 
and taking notes of all they saw and did kept the 
explorers busy during those dreary days. Some- 
times only the blacksmith's busy hammer saved 
them from suffering hunger. The Indians would 
always give corn in return for the blacksmith's 
work. But day by day the deer and buffaloes be- 
came fewer, and finally almost disappeared. The 
hunters returned from their hunts empty-handed 
and exhausted. The Sioux sometimes annoyed 
them, and could not be punished. For some time 
corn was their only food, but fortunately they suc- 
ceeded in getting enough of this to keep them alive. 

In February they lifted their boats out of the 
frozen river, and drew them up on the banks to 
repair them and make them ready for further 
service. 

60 



THE WINTER 6 1 

In March, hope returned with the northward 
flight of ducks, swans, and geese. Spring was near 
at hand, and everybody in the camp was busy. New 
boats were built, deer-skin ropes were made, axes 
were fashioned, corn was shelled, and all their 
supplies and presents were put out to dry. 

On the first of April rain fell for the first time 
in five and a half months. This softened and 
smoothed the river so much that they at once 
slipped their boats into the water. The provisions 
and party for the westward journey were stowed 
away in six small canoes and two pirogues. 
Thirty-two men turned their faces west, sixteen 
men turned their faces east. The latter were on 
board the old barge and were to return to St. Louis, 
carrying maps and messages and huge boxes of 
specimens for President Jefferson. Some of the 
things carried back were: 

Some stuffed antelopes. Tail of a deer. 

One weasel. Skins of various animals. 

Three squirrels. Indian dress. 

Skeleton of a prairie wolf. Indian bow and arrows. 

A white and a gray hare. Indian tobacco-seed. 

Two burrowing squirrels. Box of plants. 

One white weasel. Box of insects. 

Horns of mountain ram. Prairie hen. 

Horns of an elk. Four magpies. 



CHAPTER XII 

FIGHTS WITH GRIZZLY BEARS 

For days the voyage up the river was un- 
eventful. Every creek, island, bird, beast, fruit, 
or flower was closely observed and faithfully de- 
scribed. The weather was generally fine, game 
became more plentiful, and the Yellowstone River 
was reached without adventure. 

The greatest cause of discomfort to the ex- 
plorers was the sand and dust. When people 
nowadays cross the continent a certain part of 
their journey is made very uncomfortable by the 
alkali dust. Even in the vestibuled trains, with 
double windows, deflectors, and screens, this dread- 
ful dust sifts over everything and almost chokes 
the traveler. Think how much worse it must 
have been for these men. The dust was so thick 
at times that they could not see from one bank of 
the river to the other. Their eyes grew very sore. 
Their food was covered with dust; the water was 
full of it. But it was only one of many discom- 
forts, forgotten as soon as it was past. 

62 



FIGHTS WITH GRIZZLY BEARS 63 

The party had now reached the stretch of 
country most thickly infested by all kinds of wild 
and savage beasts. Wolves, buffaloes, and bears 
were seen every day, and now and then a panther, 
or American tiger, was met with. One night the 
camp was asleep. Suddenly the guard heard a 
noise of galloping feet. A buffalo, dripping wet 
from his swim across the river, crashed over the 
canoes on the river's bank, plunged straight Into 
the camp-fire, careered down a row of sleeping 
men within eighteen inches of their heads, ran 
between four fires, barely escaped the heads of 
another row of men, whirled about toward the 
tent, was stopped by a dog, and then plunged bel- 
lowing off into the darkness. 

But the men cared nothing for a buffalo. The 
one animal they feared was the grizzly, or, as they 
called it, ''white" bear. This bear the Indians 
feared too. In fact, the Indians' fear of it was 
so great that they never dared to attack it 
unless. in parties. They prepared for the hunt of 
the grizzly just as they did for war. War paint 
was put on, and war ceremonies were performed. 

And there was good reason for fear, for the 
grizzly bear is one of the most dreadful of beasts. 
Its skin is very tough, and sometimes as many as 



64 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



eight shots would strike one before it fell. To 
kill this animal the shot must be in the head or 
heart. Grizzly bears have been known to run a 
quarter of a mile with a shot through the heart 
before they fell dead. 




A FAMILY OF GRIZZLIES 



Again and again Captain Lewis had been chased 
by one of these fierce fellows. He almost always 
killed the bear, but only after a long battle. Late 
one evening, Captain Clark encountered and shot 
a huge grizzly. The bear fled with an awful roar. 
Ten times it was wounded, but even then the beast 
swam half-way across the river before it dropped 
dead on a sand bar. 



FIGHTS WITH GRIZZLY BEARS 65 

At another time the men in the boats were 
startled at the sight of one of their companions 
on shore running toward the boats shouting and 
crying. A grizzly, which he had shot through the 
lungs, had given chase and followed him for half 
a mile. Captain Clark and seven men instantly 
started in pursuit. Two hours later the bear was 
found lying in a deep hole it had dug in its fury. 
Two shots in the head at last closed the battle. 

A few days later the men in the canoes saw 
a huge bear lying on shore. Six hunters landed 
and attacked the beast. Four bullets struck him, 
two of them piercing his lungs. Maddened with 
pain, he whirled about and rushed at the hunters. 
Two of them fired and broke the bear's shoulder. 
Before they could reload, the bear was upon them. 
Two men jumped headlong into the canoes, while 
the other four hunters hid themselves, firing again 
and again. Still the bear came on. Flinging away 
guns, pouches, everything, the four men leaped 
down a twenty-foot bank and plunged into the 
river. The bear tore after, and had just grasped 
a man, when a shot from the shore struck the 
bear in the head and killed him. Eight wounds 
were found on his body. The men took the huge 
skin back to camp. 



CHAPTER XIII 

AN IMPORTANT DECISION 

When the hunters reached the camp they found 
everything in confusion. One of the canoes loaded 
with the most valuable possessions of the party had 
been nearly capsized in a sudden squall. Three 
men had barely escaped with their lives. Medi- 
cines, instruments, and papers had been badly 
injured, but not entirely ruined. It was necessary 
that all the freight should be examined, dried, 
repaired, and then repacked. This caused a delay 
of some days. 

--^ It seemed as though the whole month of May 
was full of disaster and hard work. The mud was 
deep, the river almost impassable. A quarter of 
the time the men were up to their armpits in 
water, walking over rough rocks, dragging heavy 
canoes, and keeping everything in as good order 
as possible ; still they uttered no word of com- 
plaint. Gradually the character of the country 
began to change ; the rivers grew narrower and 
the current more rapid, the banks were less 

66 



AN IMPORTANT DECISION 67 

wooded and more broken. Hills and small moun- 
tains began to appear in the distance. 

Late in May, Captain Lewis caught his first 
glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, ''the object of 
all our hopes, and the reward of all our ambi- 
tions." Now the towlines of knotted elk-skin 
were brought into use, for the rapids were frequent 
and danger threatened the cargoes at every turn. 
The scenery grew more striking ; the banks were 
in some places three hundred feet high, washed 
by the rains and colored in strange fashion. 

Again the country fell away. Game reappeared. 
At the mouth of a large river of which they had 
not heard, the explorers encamped. They called 
this stream Marias River. Now they were face 
to face with a great problem. 

Which river was the Missouri? Which river 
should they ascend? The success of the whole 
expedition depended upon this decision. If they 
ascended the wrong river, valuable time would be 
lost, and the men would be worn out and dis- 
couraged. In order to settle this question, two 
canoes and three men were sent up each river. 
These men were to measure the depth and rapidity 
of the stream, while others were sent by land to 
discover the general direction in which it flowed. 



68 LEWIS AND CLARK 

In the meantime Lewis and Clark climbed to 
the top of a high hill. Around them hopped, ran, 
and flew linnets, goldfinches, blackbirds, robins, 
and turtledoves. From the top of the hill could 
be seen great herds of buffaloes and antelopes, 
with prowling wolves following each herd. 

For a little distance both rivers could be seen, 
while the mountains lay far beyond. The north- 
ern branch, or Marias River, was yellow and tur- 
bid, just as the Missouri had been all the way. 
The southern branch was clear, cold, and rapid, as 
if it came from the mountains. Moreover, the 
Indians had said the water at the falls of the Mis- 
souri was clear and sparkling. On the other hand, 
they had said nothing of this northern branch. 

In the end the captains agreed that the clear, 
rapid stream must be the Missouri. The men did 
not think so, but cheerfully prepared to follow 
their leaders. For fear of error it was, however, 
arranged that Lewis and four men should travel 
by land along the southern branch until either the 
falls or the mountains were reached. The rest of 
the party was to follow more closely by water. 
One of the large boats was therefore drawn up on 
land and hidden, while their heavy baggage was 
placed in a cache. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MAKING A CACHE 

Making a cache requires very hard and care- 
ful work. First, the men found a dry spot high 
above the river. On the grass they drew a 
small circle twenty inches across, and carefully 
lifted out the sod. A hole a foot deep was dug 
straight down and then widened out like a big 
kettle, six or seven feet deep. As fast as the dirt 
was loosened it was lifted up and out in some 
kind of a vessel and laid carefully on a cloth. 
Not a bit of dirt must be allowed to fall on the 
ground. This dirt was then carried away and 
dropped into the river. A floor of dry sticks was 
laid in the bottom of the kettle-like hole and some 
hay or a dry buffalo skin was spread over it. 
Then the baggage which they had dried and aired 
was laid upon the buffalo skin. Sticks were put 
about the baggage to keep it from touching the 
sides of the cache. A skin was spread over the 
things, earth was thrown down and packed hard, 
and the sod put back so perfectly that no one 
could see the least mark. 

69 



JO 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



Two of these caches were made, while in two 
other places lead and powder were hidden, lest 
some accident might happen to the caches. 

Lewis then set off with his four men. They 
killed all the game they could, and hung it up on 

the trees for the men 
who were following in 
the boats. 

It was at this time 
that two bears were 
killed by the first bul- 
lets that struck them, 
a thing which hap- 
pened only this one 
time. Deer and wild 
turkeys and other game 
were abundant. Everything was going happily, 
when Captain Lewis became seriously ill. 

For a day or two he dragged painfully along. 
He grew no better. He had no medicine. At 
last he gathered some herbs, made a strong hot 
drink, and hastily swallowed it down. The next 
morning he was better, and his strong will carried 
him safely through. This was well, for a few days 
later he met with an adventure which required all 
the strength at his command. 




WILD TURKEYS 



CHAPTER XV 

AN EXCITING MORNING 

One morning as Captain Lewis was pushing rap- 
idly along through the woods, he suddenly heard 
the distant muffled roar of falling water, and saw a 
cloud of spray like a column of smoke. Hurrying 
over the seven miles which lay between him and 
this smoke-like column, he was delighted to find 
that it was caus^- by the magnificent falls of the 
Missouri. 

The falls, with their hundreds of feet of tum- 
bling rapids, claimed his close attention for a few 
moments. But his chief interest lay in finding 
some way to pass the falls with his loaded boats, 
which would shortly arrive. A short walk brought 
into view another glorious fall, and still a little 
farther on a third appeared. Rapids, falls, cas- 
cades, in quick succession, greeted the explorer's 
delighted and impatient gaze. Even an eagle's 
nest which the Indians had spoken of in describ- 
ing the falls was seen and recognized. 

Climbing to the top of a hill, he saw the river 

71 



72 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



above the falls, calm and undisturbed, and still 
deep enough to carry the boats. A herd of a 
thousand buffaloes offered meat enough for his 
supper. He shot one, and stood with rifle unloaded 



! 


n 








M" 


^HBmm^si^.' X' «-*,■ 


] 


HHI 


1 




1 * 


m 


l& ^M^^^^^K 


"** 



FALLS OF THE MISSOURI 

waiting for the buffalo to fall. Suddenly, to his 
horror, he saw a huge bear not twenty steps away. 
With an unloaded rifle, he could only run for his 
life. Across the open plain he fled; no tree, no 
bush, no bank — and the bear, open-mouthed, was 
close behind him. Hope was almost gone when. 



AN EXCITING MORNING J^ 

thinking of the river, he turned, leaped into the 
water, and with clubbed gun faced the bear, which 
was only a few yards behind him. Frightened by 
Lewis's defiance, the great beast whirled and fled 
madly across the plain, and soon disappeared in 
the distance. 

Wading out of the river and loading his rifle, 
Lewis quietly proceeded until he was startled by a 
panther which was crouching directly in his path. 
The animal being just ready to spring, Lewis was 
none too quick in sending him wounded into his 
hiding place among the rocks. 

Only a few steps farther on three buffaloes, 
catching sight of him, left the herd and came 
plunging and bellowing toward him. Lewis 
walked straight toward them. When he was 
within three hundred feet of them they suddenly 
whirled and running back rejoined the herd. 

The thorns of the prickly pear, which grew 
here abundantly and which were constantl}^ pierc- 
ing his feet, seemed to Captain Lewis the only 
proof that this land was not bewitched. 

When finally he rejoined his men, they received 
him with great joy; for his long absence had 
alarmed them, and searching parties were just 
setting out to find him. 



CHAPTER XVI 

PASSING THE FALLS 

While Captain Lewis was having these exciting 
adventures, the party coming by river was not alto- 
gether comfortable. The men were in the water 
much of the time, tugging at the unwieldy boats. 
Their feet were badly cut by rough stones, and 
often bitten by snakes, but their cheerful spirits 
never failed them. They knew they were moving 
straight ahead, and doing what they had set out 
to do. 

At length Captain Clark and the boats arrived at 
the falls and rapids. It was very hard work to get 
the boats through any rough water ; and the only 
way of passing the falls was by a portage with 
wagons. Six of the men were detailed to make a 
kind of truck for the boats and baggage. Choos- 
ing a huge cottonwood-tree they made the wheels. 
This was done by sawing off cross-sections of 
the tree where it was largest. They then took 
the mast of one of the boats for an axle. While 
wagons were being made the hunters were scour- 

74 



PASSING THE FALLS 75 

ing the country for provisions. Some elks were 
killed and brought in, and the meat was jerked. 
Fish were caught. Berries were gathered and 
dried. But buffalo meat was still their main food. 
Between the narrow rock passages to the falls great 
droves of these animals came to drink. Those in 
front were crowded and pushed by those behind, so 
that sometimes several buffaloes would be shoved 
headlong into the seething falls, and go tumbling 
down the rapids. Extra provisions were cached 
near the falls. Captain Clark started ahead to 
drive stakes to mark the path which the rest were 
to follow. Maps and carefully drawn diagrams 
were made of the falls and rapids. 

The awkward wagons were finally ready, and 
loaded with the baggage from the boats. Then 
the men laid hold of them and pulled and pushed 
with all their might. The great wheels creaked 
and groaned, and the whole party moved slowly 
forward toward the head of the falls. After going 
eight miles the wagon broke down.- It was mended 
and slowly moved on again — helped now by the 
sails of the boats set to catch a favoring breeze. 
Half a mile from the head of the falls the wagon 
broke down again, and the men carried the bag- 
gage the remaining distance by hand. Clark had 



76 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



kept well ahead, choosing the shortest and best 
route for the portage. Some of the men were 
limping dreadfully from the wounds of the prickly 
pear and the rough ground: others were so ex- 




hausted they could 

only stand a few 

moments at a time. At every halt men dropped 

to the ground and instantly fell asleep. 

At length the falls were passed, and a camp was 
made above them. Here the men set to work 
to make a skin boat. The iron frame had been 
brought from Virginia. When completed and the 



PASSING THE FALLS "]-] 

seams calked with a preparation of mud, the boat 
was launched and loaded. Great was the delight 
of the explorers at its apparent success. Greater 
was their disappointment when the next morning 
the seams were open, and the boat was on the 
point of sinking. Again and again they tried to 
cure the trouble, but the seams would crack in 
spite of every effort. This was perhaps the keen- 
est disappointment Captain Lewis had suffered in 
the whole journey. When thoroughly convinced 
that nothing could be done, the iron frame was 
hidden, and a canoe thirty-three feet long was 
made from the trunk of a large tree. 

While still at this camp, Captain Clark, the 
Indian woman, her husband and child, and two or 
three of the men had a narrow escape from death. 
A heavy rain came sweeping down upon them 
from the mountains, and the narrow ravine was sud- 
denly filled with a torrent which carried everything 
before it. Before Clark could snatch his gun and 
shot-bag, and push the Indian woman and child up 
the side of the bluff, the water reached his waist. 
The flood rose fifteen feet. An instant's hesitation 
and all would have been swept into the river and 
over the falls. The rest of the party, who on 
account of the heat and hard work wore but few 



y^ LEWIS AND CLARK 

clothes, were almost killed by the hail. Knocked 
down, bruised, and bleeding, they came painfully 
back to camp. These sudden storms of rain, hail, 
snow, or sleet often came sweeping down from the 
mountains carrying everything before them. 

The portage being passed, the reunited party 
took time to make important observations, collect 
their baggage, and repair damages. Here they 
celebrated their second Fourth of July. They often 
heard curious noises in the mountains — like the 
firing of guns or like heavy explosions. These 
noises they could never account for. 

At length the leaders carefully cached their 
maps and extra provisions and gathered the party 
for the most trying stage of the entire journey. 
The mountains towered above them. Over these 
mountains their path lay through unbroken forests 
and perhaps among unfriendly tribes of Indians. 

Captain Clark and three men went ahead, in 
order to find the Indians before they should be 
frightened into their mountain hiding-places by 
the sound of the white man's gun. They were too 
late. The Indians had disappeared. Spreading 
a trail of cloth, paper, and linen, that the Indians 
might know they were white men, Clark plodded 
on by land, while Lewis directed the party coming 



PASSING THE FALLS 



79 



by water. One day the Indian woman gave 
a grunt of joy. She had seen and recognized a 
great rock shaped like a buffalo's head and she 
knew she was in her own country. 

Following Indian roads when they appeared, 
and making their own roads when they did not 




HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI AND THE COLUMBIA 



appear, the party finally arrived at the three forks 
of the Missouri. They named one of these forks 
Madison, another Gallatin, and the third Jefferson. 
Directed by a note from Captain Clark which 
they found stuck on a pole, the water party pro- 
ceeded up the Jefferson River. They hoped to 
reach the headwaters of the Columbia, but before 
this could be done horses must be bought and the 
mountain ridge crossed. 



^ CHAPTER XVII 

UP THE JEFFERSON RIVER 

^ At this point Captain Clark was taken ill. 
While waiting for his recovery the men put deer- 
skins to soak and prepared to make clothes of 
them. The thermometer stood at 90 degrees, and 
it seemed as if they could never need such clothes. 
But the snow-capped mountains above them were 
a warning. 

In a few days the party moved on, much 
delighted and encouraged by the Indian woman's 
recognition of different places through the coun- 
try. Here she saw the spot where she had been 
taken captive by the Knife Indians and carried 
down the river. There was the spot where a hunt- 
ing-camp had been/ 

On account of Clark's illness, Lewis now 
scouted ahead. He suffered every discomfort and 
inconvenience — wading rivers, plunging through 
brushwood, sleeping anywhere, and often going 
hungry. 

Captain Clark, meanwhile, brought on the 

80 



UP JEFFERSON RIVER 8l 

water party. The river grew so rough and the 
banks so steep and heavy with brushwood that 
the men were obliged to wade the river and drag 
the canoes. 

Coming to the mouth of the Wisdom River, 
they were disappointed to find no note from 
Lewis. The pole on which it was stuck had been 
cut down by a beaver and the note lost. 

Being without any clew, they unfortunately 
chose the wrong branch, and ascending the Wis- 
dom River instead of the Jefferson, camped on an 
island for the night. The island was so low that 
they had to cut brushwood to lie upon. This 
kept them from lying in the water. 

The next day they toiled onward until over- 
taken by a messenger, who told them of their 
mistake, and they retraced their way to the Jeffer- 
son River. A canoe was upset while returning, 
and many valuable things were lost. A man who 
was thrown from the canoe was badly bruised and 
with difficulty escaped drowning. 

Indian guides and horses must now be found, 
and Lewis and some others slung their knapsacks 
over their shoulders, saying they should not be 
seen again until they had found these necessary 
things. 



82 LEWIS AND CLARK 

Leaving notes at the forks of the river for 
Clark and his party, Lewis pressed boldly onward. 
One can imagine his delight and that of his com- 
panions when, worn out and hungry, they saw in 
the distance a horseman. They knew that he 
belonged to a tribe not seen before. He was 
seated on a fine horse. The horse was without a 
saddle, and an elk-skin string fastened to its lower 
jaw served as a bridle. Lewis walked eagerly 
toward the Indian. When a mile away he took 
his blanket from his bag, held it by the two cor- 
ners, and, unfolding it, spread it on the ground. 

This is the sign of friendship among all Indian 
tribes on the Missouri River and through the 
Rocky Mountains. Three times Lewis did 
this — spreading the blanket in his most inviting 
manner. 

But the Indian seemed afraid. Lewis walked 
slowly forward. He took from his bag some beads 
and trinkets. He dropped his gun, but at two 
hundred yards the Indian whirled and rode away. 
Lewis called out ''tabba bone," which means 
''white man," but, still watching the advance of 
the two other men, the Indian rode away. Lewis 
spoke to his men. One heard and stopped, the 
other did not hear and did not stop. Again the 



UP JEFFERSON RIVER S^, 

Indian halted, but at one hundred and fifty yards 
turned and rode hastily away. 

More disappointed than he could express, 
Lewis made an attempt to follow him. Tying an 
American flag to a pole, the three men walked on. 
They built a fire, hoping to attract attention. 
They tied some trinkets on a pole, thinking they 
were near the Indian camp and the presents would 
be seen. Soon, however, a rain came up. This 
spoiled the trail of the horse in the grass, and, 
discouraged, they gave up the' search. 

The next morning Lewis and the two men 
encircled the mountain. They crossed several 
small streams and found places where the Indians 
had been digging roots. They also saw Indian 
trails, but they found no Indians. 

Following one of these trails, they came to a 
tiny stream which they knew must be a source of 
the Missouri River. Astride of this stream one 
of the men said he "thanked God he had lived to 
put a foot on each side of the Missouri River!" 

A source of the Missouri River never before 
seen by white men, a clear and icy stream, trickled 
at their feet. Down they sat, thinking themselves 
well repaid for all their labor. The end of the 
seemingly endless river had been discovered. 



//^ CHAPTER XVIII 

/ THE COLUMBIA RIVER REACHED 

/ As the explorers resumed their journey and 
pushed boldly onward over the mountains, they 
hoped that they might find the head of some little 
stream which, flowing westwardly, would prove 
this ridge of mountains to be the great dividing- 
line between the Missouri and the Columbia. Very 
soon this hope was realized. Within three quar- 
ters of a mile they came upon a fine clear stream 
running west. 

Again they stopped. They drank for the first 
time of waters flowing toward the Pacific. A 
scrap of raw pork, their only remaining bit of 
food, made their supper; but little they cared for 
hunger when they could drink from the head 
waters of the Columbia! 

A day or two later more Indians were sighted, 
but instantly disappeared. Their dogs, however, 
followed the explorers until Lewis tried to tie 
some trinkets about their necks; then they slunk 
quickly away. 

84 



THE COLUMBIA RIVER REACHED 85 

^ Before night three Indian women were seen. 
One of them ran away ; the other two dropped to 
the ground and hung their heads. They expected 
instant death. Lewis lifted them up, and strip- 
ping up his sleeve showed them his white skin; for 
h'is face 'and hands were as brown as any Indian's. 
He then proved himself a friend by giving them 
some presents, and the women at once guided him 
to their camp. 

On their way they were met by sixty warriors 
riding at full speed. Lewis dropped his gun, put 
up his little American flag, and walked gravely 
toward them. The women told their story. At 
once three of the leaders sprang from their horses, 
threw their right arms over Lewis's left shoulder, 
clasped his back, laid their left cheeks to his, and 
said ''Ah-hi-e" over and over. This meant they 
were ** pleased to meet him." All the warriors 
saluted the brave captain in the same way, leaving 
him decidedly greasy and much stained with war 
paint. 

Lewis then lighted a pipe, and offered it to the 
Indians. Before they accepted it, however, they 
pulled off their moccasins, which was their way of 
saying that they would go barefooted all their 
lives in order to prove themselves his friends. 




INDIANS FISHING FOR SALMON 



THE COLUMBIA RIVER REACHED ^7 

White men and red then went on together to the 
Indian camp. 

Young braves hurried ahead and prepared a 
tent for Captain Lewis. Boughs and skins were 
spread on the floor, except in the middle of the 
tent. Here the grass was pulled up, and prepara- 
tions were made for the same kind of ceremony we 
read of a little while ago. This being over, presents 
were given to the women and children. 

Lewis then told the Indians that his men had 
eaten nothing since the day before. The chief 
replied that they themselves had nothing but some 
cakes made of dried berries. These they gladly 
gave, and the white men as gladly ate. A walk 
to the small stream followed this poor meal. The 
Indians said that the stream soon became wider, 
but that there was no wood on its banks large 
enough for canoes. 

On the way back to the camp a young Indian 
called Lewis into his tent and gave him a bit of 
smoked salmon. This was proof indeed that they 
were on the Columbia River. No other river pro- 
duced such fish as that, but Lewis did not know 
i^. A dance closed this exciting day, but long 
before the harsh music died away Lewis had with- 
drawn to his own tent. 



CHAPTER XIX 

AMONG THE INDIANS 

Among these friendly mountain people Lewis 
decided to stay, and wait for Captain Clark and 
the remainder of the party. He had nothing but 
parched corn and dried berries for food. Every 
moment was spent in studying the country and the 
people, and in planning the details for the remain- 
ing part of the journey. No game but antelopes 
could be found, and these could seldom be caught. 
The Indian manner of hunting them was most 
interesting to watch, but rather disappointing in 
its results. The hunters would place themselves 
in groups about a great circle. In the middle of 
the circle was the herd of antelopes. One group 
of hunters would then rush out on their trained 
ponies and chase the herd across the plain to 
another group of hunters. These hunters would 
chase them back. Another set would then rush 
out from another point and take up the hunt. 
This was kept up until the game was worn out, or 
could be reached by the hunters' arrows. Often 



AMONG THE INDIANS 89 

all escaped, and the men would return with foam- 
ing horses, but no game. Forty or fifty hunters 
would sometimes work all day for two or three 
antelopes. 

Finding the Indians continued to be friendly, 
Lewis tried to persuade them to send a party of 
men and horses with him to meet Captain Clark. 
After many trials they finally promised, but again 
and again they put off the start. They feared that 
Lewis was trying to deceive them, and that the 
party would prove to be enemies. At last Lewis 
made a long and wise speech, in which he asked 
them if they were afraid. Now this is a tender 
point with an Indian. He will face any danger 
rather than be thought cowardly. As a result the 
chief said he at least would go, if he went alone. 
A small party joined him, and they set out, 
leaving their squaws lamenting loudly. The 
squaws believed their braves were riding to cer- 
tain death. The party had not gone far when 
more braves joined them, and though they felt 
very suspicious, they really did stay with Lewis 
until he met Clark. 

I have said that the explorers had little to eat, 
Lewis himself often going hungry. One day a 
deer was killed. The Indians greedily ate the 



go 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



intestines as fast as the hunters threw them aside. 
They did not touch the good meat, however, until 
it was given to them, but when it was given to 
them they ate it raw. 

Now, although Lewis had said he would meet 
his party at the forks of the river, he knew they 
might be delayed. If they were not there the 
Indians would instantly kill him. So he sent one 
of his men with one of the Indians and told him 
to bring a note which he would find stuck in a pole 
at the forks. This was his own note, written and 
left for Captain Clark. By telling the Indians it 
had been put on the pole for him by a messenger 
from Clark's party, he succeeded in keeping them 
quiet. He said the note told him they were 
delayed, but would soon arrive. He then sent 
another messenger down the river to hurry Clark 
along if he should meet him. 

It was a very anxious time, but Lewis was 
cheerful and apparently careless, and his courage 
was soon rewarded by the sight of the party. The 
Indians showed their own relief by embracing 
Lewis fervently. 

While they were waiting, Lewis had told them 
of the Indian woman of their own tribe, Sacajawea, 
and the black man, York. When she, sitting in 



AMONG THE INDIANS 



91 



one of the boats, saw the party, she began to 
dance, to sing, and give every sign of great joy. 
She sucked her fingers to let them know that she 
belonged to their tribe. When the savages saw 
her they shouted joyfully, and when they drew 
nearer, some of them recognized her as an old 
acquaintance. They greeted her 
in their boisterous way, and 
welcomed her back to her own 
people and country. 

At once Lewis was seated on 
a white robe, and the chief tied 
six small white shells in his hair. 
This was a mark of great honor. 
Moccasins were taken off and 
the peace-pipe smoked. Then 
Sacajawea was called in to act 
as interpreter. Just as she was 
beginning to talk she suddenly 
stopped; then she jumped up, 
flung her arms about one of the braves, threw her 
blanket over him, and burst out crying. The 
young man was her brother. From him she 
learned that her entire family was dead, except 
two brothers and a small nephew. This boy she 
at once took for her own. 




SACAJAWEA 

THE interpreter's WIFE 



CHAPTER XX 

HESITATION 

When the woman was quiet enough to act as 
interpreter, speeches were made explaining the 
purpose of the expedition, and asking the Indians 
if they would help them by selling them some 
horses. The Indians replied that they would do 
all they could, They said the party could not 
travel by water because of the rapids in the river. 

One Indian drew a map, using a stick for a 
pencil and the dust for paper. He showed where 
the river ran, and made little piles of sand for the 
mountains. He said these mountains were cov- 
ered with snow, and that the banks of the river 
were solid rock. The river itself was covered 
with foam. He declared no nation had ever 
crossed these mountains, but they had all heard of 
a river running to an ill-tasting lake. 

Other Indians told him they would have steep 
mountains to cross where there was no game. 
There would be roots to eat, but they would have 
to fight for them with the mountain Indians, w^ho 

92 



HESITATION 93 

lived like bears in holes. They said the horses' 
feet would be cut to pieces by the rough road. 

After a time they would come to a desert, 
where for ten days they would find no grass nor 
water for horses. They must then pass through 
many hostile tribes, but if they kept on they would 
at last reach the ocean. One man promised to go 
with them if they would wait until spring. Lewis 
and Clark both felt that this route through the 
desert would lead them to the Gulf of California, 
and not to Oregon. So they chose a more north- 
erly route, and Clark set out with eleven men to 
see whether the trip must really be by land instead 
of water. 

Lewis remained with the friendly Indians, and 
bought some horses. He paid queer prices for 
them. He bought three good horses for a coat, 
some leggings, handkerchiefs, and knives; in value 
to him about twenty dollars, but wealth to the 
Indians. Later the price rose, and a horse cost a 
pistol, a knife, and a hundred rounds of powder 
and ball. 

As Clark and his men pursued their journey they 
were provided with salmon, dried and fresh, which 
the Indians caught in weirs. The way proved as 
difficult as the Indians had said. Salmon were 



^4 LEWIS AND CLARK 

scarce, the Indians were leaving the river for their 
winter hunting-grounds, and Clark was convinced 
that travel by water was impossible. He therefore 
retraced his steps and tried another route ; and 
though he fell and severely hurt his knee, still he 
pushed on. 

Again convinced of the uselessness of such 
attempts, Clark sent a messenger to Lewis with his 
decision. With no food but berries, which made 
them all ill, and sometimes without any food at 
all, they hurried to meet Lewis. 

With wasting strength, they encamped and de- 
cided to go no farther, but to wait there for the 
coming of Lewis and his party. They cached all 
extra baggage, and when Lewis joined them, nine 
days later, preparations for the mountain journey 
were well advanced. 

Lewis had secured twenty-nine horses from the 
Shoshones, whose wealth was horses. But he also 
had suffered much from lack of food and threat- 
ened treachery. Once he had proved his sincerity 
by giving the whole of a deer to the women and 
children of the tribe while going hungry himself. 

The Indians from whom Lewis had gotten the 
horses had many interesting customs and ceremo- 
nies. One of these ceremonies was the making 



HESITATION 95 

of a shield. When some warrior needed a shield, a 
feast was given to all the old men, warriors, and jug- 
glers. After the feast a hole eighteen inches deep 
was dug in the ground. This hole was the same 
size as the shield they wished to make. Red-hot 
stones were then thrown into the hole, and water 
poured over the stones. Of course a heavy steam 
would rise. Then the entire fresh hide of a buffalo 
was laid across the hole, the fleshy side down, and 
everybody took hold of it and stretched it with 
all their might. When they thought it had been 
stretched enough, they set to work and pounded 
it with their bare heels as hard as they could 
pound. This pounding would last several days. 
The shield was then declared proof against arrows 
or bullets, and handed over to the owner. 

They always fought on horseback; and they 
had armor for themselves and their horses, made 
of layers and layers of the skins of antelopes. 
They made fire by whirling one stick around on 
another, and, like many tribes, they cut their hair 
as a sign of mourning. They used very few metal 
tools, and had only a few knives, brass kettles, 
bracelets, buttons, and spearheads, which they had 
gained by trading. In spite of all their warlike 
characteristics they were kind to the aged. 



CHAPTER XXI 
DOWN THE SNAKE RIVER 

But the time came when our party must move 
on, and the month which followed was full of 
dreadful experiences. Rain, snow, hail, and sleet 
impeded their way. Bushes had to be cut down 
and fallen trees climbed over. 

The horses sometimes slipped and fell long dis- 
tances down the sides of the mountain. Some- 
times they strayed away in the night. One horse 
loaded with a desk and a small trunk rolled over 
and over for a hundred and twenty feet and then 
bumped against a great tree, which stopped him. 
The desk was broken, but the horse was not hurt 
at all. Two horses dropped exhausted and had 
to be left behind, while the men took up their 
loads. More horses had to be bought from tribes 
in the mountains. 

The men were often wet to the skin and suffered 
from frozen feet. There were streams to cross 
and recross full of ice and water. The baggage 
was frozen. Much time was lost in trying to get 

96 



DOWN THE SNAKE RIVER 97 

food. At last It became necessary to kill a colt 
for food, and the creek where they were then 
camped was called ''Colt Killed Creek." 

The men grew low-spirited. No game could be 
found. A second colt was killed, and a third; and 
one night there was nothing to eat but a little 
canned soup. The creek where they encamped 
that night they called "Hungry Creek." 

Occasionally Indian tribes were met, and though 
they had but little food, they gladly shared it. 
Even this amount of food after their long hunger 
made many of the men ill, and when a few days 
later roots became plentiful, all the men were 
very sick from overeating. 

Late in September they came to navigable 
water, and found trees large enough for making 
canoes. The horses were collected and branded, 
and given into the care of the Indians to be kept 
until the return of the explorers. 

Saddles were cached, as well as powder and 
balls. The canoes were finished and launched, 
and once more the explorers were floating down 
a river. It was not smooth sailing, however, for 
rocks were plentiful, and the upsetting of a boat 
was a common occurrence. / 

At last the present ^t^ of Lewiston, Idaho, was 



98 LEWIS AND CLARK 

reached. There the Indians fairly swarmed about 
them, and from them the explorers bought a few 
dogs for change of diet." These Indians made fun 
of them and called them *' dog-eaters." They 
weire of the Chopunnish tribes that never ate dog. 
X Down the Snake River they floated, buying 
dogs and fish, and driving sharp bargains with the 
natives. Among these Indians they noted one 
curious custom, most uncommon among savages. 
They* took baths! A hole was dug in the ground 
and covered closely, leaving room for several 
people inside. The bath was a social affair, and a 
refusal to bathe was a great insult. When the 
bathers were ready, they would go into the hole 
with a number of hot stones and jugs of water. 
The water was thrown on the stones and made a 
hot steam. In this steam the bathers sat for some 
time. Then, running out, they would leap into a 
cold stream, afterward going back to the steam- 
ing again."' 

In each tribe there were some interesting things 
to observe. The Sohulks were kind to old people, 
which was most unusual. Their wives were 
treated well, too, which was also unusual. But as 
a tribe they suffered from two great inconven- 
iences. They had poor teeth and poor eyes. 



CHAPTER XXII 

DOWN THE COLUMBIA 

At last the Columbia River was reached, and 
for a little time traveling proved more comfort- 
able. Frequent councils were held, and the Indians 
were often entertained by being shown the won- 
ders of the shotgun and burning-glass. 

Lewis and Clark, on the other hand, were 
equally interested in seeing how the Indians pre- 
pared the famous Columbia River salmon. After 
the fish were caught they were dried in the sun, 
and pounded between two stones. Baskets made 
of rushes and grass, and lined with fish-skins, were 
then filled with the pounded fish, covered, and left 
outdoors until sold. The fish so prepared will 
keep good for years. 

The Indian method of burying trout was also 
interesting. First a hole was dug and lined with 
straw. Over the straw skins were laid, and the 
trout put into the skins. Other skins were thrown 
over the fish, and the hole closed with dirt twelve 
or fifteen inches deep. 

99 

L.ofC. 



lOO LEWIS AND CLARK 

Late in October they caught their first glimpse 
of Mt. Hood, and within a few hours they arrived 
at the rapids above the falls of the Columbia. 
Whenever it could possibly be done, the canoes 
were let down by ropes, still keeping them in the 
water ; but when the rocks were too thick and the 
current too rapid, there was nothing left to do but 
to carry the canoes overland. 

Once past the falls, they saw what they had not 
seen since leaving the Indians in Illinois. These 
were wooden houses. They were very queerly 
built. First a large hole six feet deep, thirty feet 
long, and twenty feet wide was dug in the ground. 
This hole was then lined with boards, which reached 
just above the surface of the ground. 

A roof was put on, a crack being left the whole 
length of the roof for the smoke to escape. A 
doorway twenty-nine and one-half inches high, 
fourteen inches wide, and eighteen inches above 
ground was left. In front of this a mat was hung 
for a door. Half of this house was used for stor- 
ing fish and berries ; the other half was used by 
the family. Little bedsteads were built around the 
sides, while the fire burned in the middle. 

In a short time the explorers came to the 
rapids and narrows of the Columbia, now known 



102 LEWIS AND CLARK 

as the Dalles. As the canoes were too large 
to be carried, and too heavily loaded to float 
in such shallow water, there was but one plan to 
follow, the baggage must be transferred by land, 
and the canoes let down by waten Accordingly 
the perilous descent began, watched by a great 
crowd of Indians. Three canoes slipped safely 
through the boiling water ; the fourth was nearly 
filled with it, while the fifth escaped with but little 
damage. For half a mile the struggle was tremen- 
dous ; two and a half miles more were hard, but 
after this the river broadened and became calm, 
and the boats dropped quietly down to the next 
rapids. Here it became necessary to slip some 
of the heavier canoes from one rock to another on 
poles, while the lighter ones were safely guided 
between them. 

The Indian guides were sent back. The ex- 
plorers needed them no longer. Tide water lapped 
the sides of their canoes. 

As the explorers approached the mouth of the 
river, heavy fogs often hid the banks completely 
from their view, and made navigation dangerous. 
But one day in November the fog lifted, and the 
" ocean was in view ! Oh, the joy! The object 
of all our labors ; the reward of all our anxieties." 



DOWN THE COLUMBIA 103 

The roar of the breakers was delightful music to 
the men, and "great cheerfulness" became the 
mood of the whole party. But the waves ran 
high, and the men became seasick. The water 
was too salty to use. The baggage could not be 
placed above the reach of the tide. At length 
they contrived to lift it on poles, and then ** passed 
a disagreeable night." The rain fell dismally, the 
canoes were filled with water, the tide came boom- 
ing in. Huge trees floating out with the current 
knocked against their camp, and the canoes were 
nearly crushed to pieces. All the next day was 
spent in the pouring rain, with only fish to eat and 
rainwater to drink. Still the men were cheerful. 

On the following night the camp was made on 
driftwood by the shoreo The tide rose high, and 
threatened to cover them. Stones came rolling 
down upon them from the cliffs above. The men, 
adrift on floating logs or hidden in the crevices of 
the rocks, cowered from the storm. The under- 
brush was so thick there was no escape by land. 
The hunters could not go out. Dry raw fish was 
their only food. The furious gale blew continu- 
ously. In despair Captain Clark pulled himself 
up the mountain-like cliff by bushes to reconnoiter, 
but clouds shut off his view. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

FORT CLATSOP AND THE START HOME 

At the end of six days the storm subsided, and 
the men once more embarked. At the mouth of 
the Columbia they determined to make a perma- 
nent camp. They built some rough huts or cabins, 
called the place Fort Clatsop, and there lived four 
months, during which time the rain fell almost con- 
stantly. Food was hard to find, their clothing was 
in a deplorable condition, and they were obliged 
to pay outrageous prices to the Indians for any- 
thing they bought. Yet they did not despair. 
y^2iv\y in December Clark chronicled their 
arrival on the Pacific coast in these words which 
he cut into a tree: ''William Clark, December 3, 
1805. By land from the U. S. in 1804 and 5." 

Christmas was celebrated as usual by a 'dis- 
charge of firearms and a song from the men. 
Handkerchiefs and tobacco were distributed as 
gifts and a dinner of spoiled elk's meat, a few 
roots, and some sour pounded fish was eaten with 
as good a grace as possible. 

104 



FORT CLATSOP AND THE START HOME 1 05 

As soon as they could be spared, five men were 
sent to the sea, each armed with a kettle. In 
these kettles they were to boil sea-water and make 
some salt. Other men were sent out to hunt, 
while a third division was set to work making 
pickets and setting them up around the fort. 

One day word was brought to the fort that a 
whale had drifted ashore at a point many miles 
distant. An eager party at once set out to see it. 
At times traveling in canoes, again climbing moun- 
tains, and enduring many discomforts, they pushed 
boldly forward toward the place that had been 
named. They met fourteen Indians loaded with 
oil and blubber. Then descending from the moun- 
tains and traversing the sandy beach for a long dis- 
tance, they found the whale. Nothing rem.ained 
but the skeleton, one hundred and five feet long. 
The Indians had stripped it and were busily boil- 
ing the blubber in a square wooden trough. Into 
this trough they dropped hot stones. When the 
oil was ready it was put into the bladder and 
intestines of the whale for preservation. A high 
price was paid for a very little blubber and oil, and 
the party returned to Fort Clatsop. 

Thus the dreary months of winter wore away. 
The men were often ill, and longed for the return 



I06 LEWIS AND CLARK 

journey to begin. Feeling that they had accom- 
plished all they could at Fort Clatsop, they only 
waited a cessation of rain to start for home. 

With difficulty they persuaded an Indian to 
sell them a canoe for a coat and a bit of tobacco. 
They had a second canoe which they had taken 
from the Indians by way of reprisal for some elk 
meat which the savages had stolen from them in 
the winter. It was leaky, however, and scarcely 
seaworthy in the smoothest water. Having calked 
the seams in this canoe, they loaded both with 
such poor baggage as they had, and then bidding 
good by to Fort Clatsop, started, some by water, 
some by land, upon their long journey homeward. 

This was on the twenty-third of March, 1806. 
That night they camped at the mouth of a small 
creek only sixteen miles above Fort Clatsop. The 
next day they; bought a dog to serve as food for 
the sick men, and then resumed their journey. 

The passage up the river was slow and beset 
with difficulties. They tried to buy food from the 
Indians, who either refused to sell or charged such 
prices as could not be paid. At length the hunters 
brought in a little seal meat, three eagles, and a 
large goose. One day seven deer were shot, but 
before they could be brought in the vultures had 



FORT CLATSOP AND THE START HOME 107 

picked them to the bone. There was much game, 
but the great ferns which grew on the river banks 
were so dry that the rustling noise made by the 
men pushing through them often frightened the 
animals away. 

Thus during the first half of the month of 
April the explorers toiled slowly up the great 
river. Sometimes they would make a brief stop 
in some Indian settlement, partly for the purpose 
of trading and partly to observe and take note of 
the peculiar character and habits of these savage 
denizens of the woods. Sometimes the greater 
part of a day was spent in curing meat or in pro- 
viding a store of such other food as could be 
obtained from the natives. 

A potato-like root called wappato was much 
prized by the Indians, and at certain seasons of 
the year was their chief food. It was found in 
ponds, the plants growing up like water lilies from 
the mud at the bottom. It was gathered usually 
by the women. Each woman went out in her 
own canoe; and when she arrived at the proper 
place she would leap out into the water, which was 
sometimes almost shoulder high. There she 
would stand with her feet in the mud, and by 
means of her toes separate the bulb-like roots 



io8 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



from the plants. The roots would then rise to the 
surface and the woman would throw them into 
the canoe. 

On the eighteenth of April the explorers 




THE DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA 



reached the Dalles of the Columbia. You will 
remember the great difficulties which they encoun- 
tered here on their downward journey; it is not 
surprising to learn that the ascent of the long 
rapids was much more laborious and dangerous 
than the descent had been. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

ASCENT OF THE COLUMBIA 

It was found impossible to carry the canoes 
around the rapids, and they were therefore of no 
further use. Earnest efforts were made to trade 
them for horses, but with no success. When, 
however, the men began to spHt them to pieces, 
rather than leave them to the Indians, the savages 
relented and handed over some beads, which 
Lewis and Clark were very glad to get. 

After leaving the falls, a forced march of several 
days brought the explorers to the tribe of the 
Walla Wallas. The welcome given by these good 
Indians seemed most refreshing to the captains. 
The chief himself stalked off to gather an armful 
of wood and bring them some fish. He urged 
them to remain and collect a supply of food. 

When the savages learned the real intentions 
and plans of the explorers, they made every effort 
to help them. They told them of a road which 
would shorten their hard journey by eighty miles, 
and sold them a number of dogs. The chief 

109 



no LEWIS AND CLARK 

brought a fine horse. For this he asked a kettle, 
but as there were no kettles left, Clark gave 
him his own sword and some ammunition. This 
pleased the chief so much that the long-suffering 
party was treated to a dance in the evening. 

At length the Columbia was left behind, and the 
expedition pushed eastward overland, along the 
Kooskooskee River. The Indians who lived in 
this region would not eat dogs, and made much fun 
of the "dog-eating men." One day when our men 
were dining, an Indian flung a live puppy into 
Lewis's plate. Lewis instantly threw it back, strik- 
ing the Indian full in the face, and promised to 
follow the puppy with a tomahawk if such a thing 
happened again. 

The reputation of the captains for curing sick- 
ness had preceded them, and was now of great use 
to them. 

Early in May the Kooskooskee was crossed. 
On the same day the captains were surprised by an 
Indian bringing them two canisters of powder. 
These he said his dog had dug up. Lewis and 
Clark knew they were canisters which they had 
cached on the way down the river. They there- 
fore went to see if the dogs had dug up the sad- 
dles cached near the same spot. Sure enough, the 



ASCENT OF THE COLUMBIA III 

cache had been opened, but the old chief said the 
river had risen and done the mischief. He had 
reburied everything he could find. 

They next tried to find the horses which they 
had left there. The chief had promised to take 
care of them for some guns and ammunition. A 
thoroughgoing search was undertaken, and a few 
of the horses were found. Some were in good con- 
dition, but others showed signs of hard usage. 

The Indians were now gathering moss from the 
trees and cones from the pine trees. These they 
cooked and ate a little later in the season. Just 
now they had a few roots and some dried trout, 
which they generously shared with our men, and 
even gave them two fat horses. This generous gift 
was heartily appreciated by the explorers. 

Lewis and Clark did their best to show their 
gratitude by curing the sick. In this work Clark 
seemed to be the favorite. Indeed, he seemed 
always to win the love and confidence of the 
Indians. While he gave out the medicine, Lewis 
conducted councils. He at last induced the Indians 
to promise guides to conduct them over the moun- 
tains. But the party must wait a month. As 
there seemed no help for it, they finally encamped 
in a place advised by the Indians. 



CHAPTER XXV 
CROSSING THE BITTER ROOT MOUNTAINS 

This place had once been a village, but only a 
sunken circle now remained to mark the spot. 
Into this depression the men put their baggage, 
and around its edges they built their tents of grass 
and sticks. The camp was on the east side of the 
Kooskooskee River, and because it was in the 
country of the Chopunnish Indians, was called 
Camp Chopunnish. Good pasturage for the 
horses was near and the salmon were daily 
expected in the river. 

No sooner were the explorers settled than a 
dozen Indians appeared on the opposite bank and 
began to sing. This was their sign of friendship, 
and their friendship was very genuine. They 
showed it by supplying them with more horses 
and by teaching them new ways of hunting and 
cooking game. 

One day the hunters brought in some bear's 
meat, and the Indians cooked it in this queer way: 
First they built a hot fire and laid some smooth 



CROSSING THE BITTER ROOT MOUNTAINS 113 

stones on it. The hot stones were laid side by side 
and covered with pine branches. The bear meat 
was then spread on the pine branches, and another 
layer of pine put over it. On top of this was 
placed another layer of meat and another layer of 
pine. Over this water was poured, and a layer of 
earth several inches deep covered the whole mass. 
Three hours later the *'bake" was uncovered. 




CHOPUNNISH DWELLINGS 



The meat was very tender, but the taste of the 
pine spoiled it for the white men. 

The principal game here was deer, and they 
were scarce. The Indians had a peculiar method 
of hunting them. A hunter would take a deer's 
head and skin, kept in shape by a frame of sticks, 
and holding it so it would look like a feeding 
deer, decoy the herd within reach of his arrows. 

Meanwhile the days passed slowly, and at length 
about the middle of June the party left Camp Cho- 



114 LEWIS AND CLARK 

punnish, where they had been nearly a month, and 
set out to cross the Bitter Root Mountains. 

For twenty-two miles they struggled along 
through slippery mud in a heavy rain. As they 
got higher up on the mountains snow began to 
appear. Soon they were traveling over drifts, 
fifteen feet deep, with a crust hard enough to 
bear the horses. The weather was so cold as to 
benumb hands and feet, and make the danger of 
freezing a constant one. At length they halted. 
Should they go on or should they return ? Travel 
over the smooth, crusty snow was far easier than 
through an unbroken wilderness where there was 
not so much as a path. But on the other hand, 
where there was snow there was no grass for the 
horses. 

After much deliberation it was decided to 
leave the baggage, and, while the horses were still 
strong, return where they could get food and 
guides. Poles were put up between trees, and 
the baggage, after being carefully covered with 
skins, was hung from the poles. As this baggage 
consisted largely of maps, papers, and instruments, 
they felt it would be better to leave it than be 
encumbered with it on the backward journey. 

In all their thousands of miles of travel, this 



CROSSING THE BITTER ROOT MOUNTAINS 115 

was the first time they had ever been obliged to 
turn back because they could not overcome diffi- 
culties ahead. They had gone in the wrong 
direction and been forced to return once before, 
but that was only because a mistake had been 
made. The captains feared the men would be 
discouraged, but they were not ; they knew it was 
necessary, and that was enough. 

In a few days, finding the snow was not so deep 
around the trees, expert woodsmen were sent ahead 
to see if they could follow the trail. They were 
to examine the trees carefully. If they found 
marks made by the scraping of passing Indian 
ponies, they were to blaze these trees with toma- 
hawks. The party could then easily follow the 
blazed trees. 

Guides were secured, and the party started to 
make a second attempt to cross the Bitter Root 
Mountains. The top was safely reached. There 
they found the cache that had previously been 
made. The baggage was repacked, and the party 
hurried forward on top of ten feet of snow. The 
marks on the trees were very faint, but the guides 
went straight ahead without an instant's hesitation. 
Occasionally a bare spot of ground was seen, and 
the well-defined summer road it disclosed was 



Il6 LEWIS AND CLARK 

proof that they were on the right trail. On they 
pushed day after day, and on the first of July they 
arrived on the banks of Clark's Fork at the 
mouth of a creek, which they called Travelers' 
Rest. 

Here they decided to stay and rest a day or 
two, and then divide the expedition into two 
parties. Lewis with nine men was to go direct to 
the falls of the Missouri. Leaving three men 
there to make wagons to carry baggage and 
canoes around the falls, he with the other six 
men was to explore the Marias River. 

The rest of the party under Clark was to go 
across country to that point on the Jefferson River 
where the explorers had cached their canoes 
and other articles on their way out. Sergeant 
Ordway with nine men was then to take these 
canoes and descend the river to its junction with 
the Missouri, and thence float down to the falls. 
The others with Captain Clark were to cross 
the open country to the Yellowstone River. 
There they were to build canoes, descend the 
river, and wait for Lewis at the junction of that 
stream with the Missouri. 

We will first follow Captain Lewis and his 
men, and then the party of Captain Clark. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

CAPTAIN LEWIS'S ADVENTURES 

Captain Lewis's Indian guides left him as soon 
as the trail became well defined and returned to 
their tribes. 

Plains, woods, hills, rivers, and creeks were 
crossed. Early in July Lewis and his party ar- 
rived at a narrow pass through the mountains. 
To their great delight this pass proved to be 
through the dividing-ridge between the Columbia 
River and the Missouri River. It has ever since 
been known as Lewis and Clark's Pass. 

About the middle of July they came to the 
cache which they had made nearly a year before 
at the head of the falls of the Missouri. To their 
great disappointment they found that a flood had 
soaked everything. Specimens of plants were 
ruined, but some maps and charts were uninjured. 
Nothing had happened to the cottonwood wagon- 
wheels, and the iron boat-frame was not hurt by 
its long burial. 

The contents of one cache being examined, a 

117 



i8 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



man was sent off to examine the other one. On 
the way he had a dreadful experience. Riding 
quietly along, he suddenly found himself within 
ten feet of a huge grizzly bear. His terrified 
horse whirled about and threw the man headlong 
under the bear's head. Lifting himself on his 




INDIANS HUNTING BUFFALOES AT THE GREAT FALLS 



hind feet, the great beast spread his forelegs for 
the hug which would have killed the man. Like 
a flash the man struck him with the butt-end of his 
gun. He broke the gun but knocked the bear to 
the ground. Scrambling up a tree, the man was 
out of reach before the bear could recover him- 
self. But Mr. Bear quietly sat down under the 
branches and, licking his chops, waited for his 



CAPTAIN LEWIS'S ADVENTURES IIQ 

game to come down. There he sat all the after- 
noon, but as night came on he lumbered slowly 
away. When he was well out of sight, the man 
came down, and hastened back to the camp. 

Ever since emerging from the pass they had 
found food very plentiful. Near the falls herds of 
buffaloes, ten thousand strong, were seen. Fat 
dogs, pounded fish, tough roots, and boiled moss 
were now things of the past. The bellowing of the 
buffaloes was so deafening that on some nights it 
was difficult to sleep. The horses, coming from 
the land of no buffaloes, were much terrified, and 
snorted and plunged with fright. 

With his arrival at the falls of the Missouri, 
the first part of Lewis's journey was accomplished. 
He therefore, with three men, set out on horse- 
back for the Marias River, and ascended it to one 
of its sources. At first thought this would seem 
to be a useless journey, but it was thought neces- 
sary in order to settle the question whether its 
entire course was in territory belonging to the 
United States. 

The other six men were left at the falls to 
await the coming of Sergeant Ordway with his 
party, when they would assist him in carrying the 
canoes and baggage over the portage. After this 



i20 LEWIS AND CLARK 

they were to embark on the Missouri, and the 
parties were to reunite at the mouth of the Marias. 

One day as Captain Lewis and his party were 
riding along the bank of the Marias River, they 
descried a band of about thirty Indians on horse- 
back, hovering in the distance. Some of the 
Indian horses had saddles, and this led Lewis to 
suspect the party was a band of Minnetarees, who 
were great thieves. There was no way to retreat. 
There was nothing to do but to face the danger 
boldly. Hoisting the American flag, Captain 
Lewis and his men rode slowly forward. 

The Indians were evidently watching one of 
Lewis's scouts who had been sent ahead, and when 
they caught sight of the other three men they fled 
in every direction. In a little while they cautiously 
returned and held a hurried consultation. Sud- 
denly the chief left his comrades and rode straight 
toward Captain Lewis. Pulling his pony to a sud- 
den halt one hundred steps from where Lewis stood, 
he coolly surveyed him for a moment, wheeled and 
rode back like the wind. In a few moments the 
entire band rode toward our party. Feeling that 
he would rather die than lose his maps, papers, and 
journals, Captain Lewis charged his men to resist 
to the last moment. 



CAPTAIN LEWIS'S ADVENTURES 12I 

But the Indians when they arrived dismounted 
from their horses, shook hands with the white men, 
and asked to smoke with them. The pipe was 
produced, and presents were handed around. Gen- 
eral good feeUng prevailed, the danger seemed 
past, and both parties went into camp. There were 
many things to be discussed. Each party told the 
other its history and plans, and the smoking con- 
tinued until about eleven o'clock. 

Captain Lewis lay down to sleep. The dusky 
visitors appeared also to sleep. The fire crackled 
and burned low. The guard kept his silent 
watch. At daybreak all was quiet. A few mo- 
ments later, as one of the men stood by the fire, 
an Indian slipped up behind him and snatched 
two guns. Two other Indians quickly secured the 
rifles of men still asleep. The alarm rang out, 
chase was given to the thieves, the rifles were 
recovered, and one Indian lay dead not fifteen 
steps away. The real reason for the snatching of 
the guns was soon discovered. It was a ruse. The 
main party of the Indians was driving off the horses. 
Seeing themselves hotly pursued, the Indians re- 
treated in great haste. They succeeded in driving 
away only one of Captain Lewis's horses, while 
they left four of their own behind. 



122 LEWIS AND CLARK 

Fearing that this was only the beginning of 
trouble, and expecting another attack at the mouth 
of the Marias River, Captain Lewis attempted to 
reach that point first, and prepare for the combat. 
As the four men approached the place where the 
Marias joins the Missouri, shots were heard. They 
hurried forward, but to their " exquisite satisfac- 
tion" they saw, instead of Indians, the six men 
who had been left at the Great Falls, and also 
Sergeant Ordway's party of nine, who had joined 
them a few days before. To Captain Lewis this for- 
tunate meeting seemed almost too good to be true. 

Rain, rain, rain followed for several days. Hur- 
rying down the Missouri River, Captain Lewis and 
his little party passed the Big Dry, the Milk, the 
Porcupine, and many smaller branches of that 
great river. The current was rapid, the boatmen 
were of the best, and their progress was unhin- 
dered by any adverse circumstances. On the 17th 
of August they reached the Yellowstone. Here 
they had hoped to find Clark's party, but instead 
they found only a note which informed them that 
the party had been there, but had moved on. 

Captain Lewis, therefore, again embarked, and 
floated swiftly down the stream, hoping to reach 
Captain Clark's camp in the night. In this, how- 



CAPTAIN LEWIS'S ADVENTURES 



123 



ever, he was disappointed. With the dawn of the 
next day he gave up the chase, and proceeded in 
a more leisurely manner. 

On the I ith a large herd of elks was seen on a 
sand bar that was 
thickly over- 
grown with wil- 
lows. Captain 
Lewis with one of 
the hunters went 
on shore to shoot 
some of them. 
Dressed in his 
brown elk-skin 
suit, he was cau- 
tiously approach- 
^ing the herd when, 
through the care- 
lessness of the 

other hunter, he received a severe gunshot wound in 
the thigh. The wound was dressed, and the men, 
again embarking, floated rapidly down the stream. 

The very next day Captain Clark's party was 
overtaken at a point a little below the mouth of 
Little Knife Creek. So ended the exploration of 
Captain Lewis's party. 




AMERICAN ELKS 



CHAPTER XXVII 

CAPTAIN CLARK'S ADVENTURES 

In the meantime what had Captain Clark been 
doing? 

You will remember he had left Captain Lewis 
at the junction of Travelers' Rest Creek with 
Clark's Fork, and that he had started up this 
river in a southerly direction with fifteen men and 
fifty horses. His company celebrated July 4th 
by an early halt and a feast of roots and a small 
piece of venison. For several days thereafter 
they pushed steadily forward, fording numerous 
streams, coming occasionally upon deserted camp- 
fires, and following the tracks of buffalo herds, 
bearing always in mind the chief object of their 
expedition, to learn all that they could about the 
geography of that remarkable region. 

Retarded by rains, they were a long time in 
reaching the cache on the Jefferson River. They 
traveled a hundred and sixty-four miles through a 
mountain pass, where if the trees were only cut 
down a road good enough for wagons could be 

124 



CAPTAIN CLARK'S ADVENTURES 125 

made. The discovery of this easy pass proved 
afterward to be of great importance, although 
Captain Clark did not realize it at the time. 

The canoes which had been left at the cache 
were now launched on the river, and the party 
proceeded, some by land and others by water. 
Those in the canoes took care of the baggage, 
while Clark and the men on shore examined the 
country. The party on the water proceeded more 
rapidly, however, than the men on land, and 
Clark decided to join the former. Both parties 
reached the junction of the Jefferson and the Gal- 
latin at almost the same hour. Sergeant Ordway 
and nine men now embarked in a canoe, intend- 
ing to float down the Missouri to the great falls. 
We have already seen that he did this and after- 
ward joined Lewis at the mouth of the Marias. 

Sacajawea, the squaw, acted as guide to Captain 
Clark's party, and following her directions they 
safely reached the high land which divides the 
headwaters of the Yellowstone River from those of 
the Missouri. Nine miles beyond this they arrived 
at the Yellowstone, just below the place where it 
issues from the mountains. A bold and rapid 
stream it was, a hundred and twenty yards broad, and 
widening to nearly two miles in the valley below. 



126 LEWIS AND CLARK 

Since they could find no trees large enough to 
make canoes, it was necessary to continue the 
journey on horseback. This was a hard task, for 
the horses' feet were worn almost to the quick. If 
they had not been fitted with buffalo-skin moc- 
casins, they would soon have been unable to walk. 

At a distance of eighteen miles down the river 
Captain Clark found a fine grove in which were 
several trees large enough for small canoes. Here 
a camp was made, and the entire company set- 
tled down for a few days' hard work. Some were 
engaged in making canoes, others in hunting or 
in dressing skins for clothing. At the end of the 
fourth day two canoes, each twenty-eight feet 
long, eighteen inches deep, and about twenty-four 
inches wide, had been made. These canoes were 
lashed together and packed with baggage, and 
when everything was in readiness the company 
embarked and the journey was resumed. 

Occasionally interesting Indian signs were seen. 
One day a lodge decorated with eagles' feathers 
and circular bits of wood, a bush of cedar and a 
buffalo head, was discovered. Another day a 
huge rock was seen curiously carved by the 
Indians. Clark named this rock Pompey's Pillar, 
and cut his own name upon it. His name may 



CAPTAIN CLARK'S ADVENTURES 127 

still be seen there. From this rock the view was 
a wide one. There were mountains, deep valleys, 
winding rivers, and high cliffs, and on the plains 
were grazing herds of elks and buffaloes. 

On the 27th of July they took their last look 
at the Rocky Mountains, which had been con- 
stantly in sight since the ist of May. On the 3d of 
August they reached the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone, and encamped on the same spot where they 
had stopped on their way up more than fifteen 
months before. Here the canoes were unloaded, 
and the baggage spread out to dry. 

As a result of this expedition, Captain Clark 
learned that the Yellowstone River is navigable 
for nearly nine hundred miles. At its mouth was 
a fine place for a trading post or fort. Only a few 
years later such buildings were actually erected. 
At this commanding spot the mosquitoes were 
found to be in full possession, and Captain Clark 
was forced, much against his will, to move on. 
He accordingly re-embarked, and the canoes, with 
his whole company on board, dropped slowly 
down the river. On the 12th of August, to the 
great joy of all, they were overtaken by Captain 
Lewis's party. The explorers were once more 
united in a single party. 



CHAPTER XXVni 

THE END OF THE GREAT EXPEDITION 

You will remember that Captain Lewis had 
been accidentally wounded. He now lay helpless 
in the bottom of a boat; but travel by water was 
not especially trying, and the voyagers proceeded 
without any delay. They reached the country of 
the Mandans in due time, and there the party 
began to break up. One man obtained permis- 
sion to return up the Missouri with some strolling 
traders. The French interpreter and his wife, 
Sacajawea, asked to be taken no farther, and 
their request was granted. Their wages were 
paid, and they departed to their Indian friends. 
Sacajawea, who had so patiently borne the fatigues 
of the long journey, had been a wonder to the 
explorers. With her baby, born during the jour- 
ney, and now only nineteen months old, she had 
traversed the whole distance without a murmur. 

By dint of much persuasion, a chief. Big White 
by name, consented to go to Washington with the 
captains. He left behind him a wailing family 

128 



THE END OF THE GREAT EXPEDITION 129 

and many weeping friends. After cordial greet- 
ings and good-byes to their Mandan friends, a 
farewell gun was fired, and the boats dropped 
down to Fort Mandan. Here they found that all 
the buildings but one had been accidentally burned 
to the ground. 

High winds and waves made their future prog- 
ress dangerous, and the great changes In the bed 
of the river threatened constantly to mislead them. 
Where there had been sand bars two years before, 
the deep current was now running. Where the 
current had been deepest, islands were seen cov- 
ered with willows several feet high. The traders 
whom they met brought alarming reports of war 
parties of Sioux, seven hundred strong. These 
reports put therti on their guard, but did not 
retard their progress. 

Early in September they met an American on 
his way up the river to trade with the Indians. 
He had just come from St. Louis. Nearly all 
night the captains sat up and eagerly talked with 
him. Think what It meant to these men to see 
some one who could tell them what had been 
going on in the world during the two years they 
had been In the wilderness. 

Three weeks later they saw some cows grazing 



I30 LEWIS AND CLARK 

in a field by the river. The sight caused every 
man to shout for joy, for it was a sure sign that 
they were approaching civilization. The next 
day but one they touched at the gay French vil- 
lage of St. Charles, and were once more greeted 
by old acquaintances. ^On the 23d of September 
their boats glided into the Mississippi, and they 
soon afterward landed at St. Louis. So ended 
this great expeditioi^--^ 

Five months later Captains Lewis and Clark 
presented themselves in Washington with their 
trophies and their wonderful stock of information 
about the great West. The whole nation had 
been deeply interested in the expedition and its 
probable results. 

Congress at once rewarded the young men with 
large grants of land. Within a month Captain 
Lewis was made governor of the great Territory 
of Louisiana, and a few days later Clark was made 
a general of militia and agent of Indian affairs. 
These were their nominal rewards, hjiit could anv 
gifts or honors truly recompense such courage, 
bravery, and devotion as theirs had been ? 

Two years later, in 1809, Lewis was on his way 
from St. Louis to Washington carrying important 



THE END OF THE GREAT EXPEDITION 131 

papers. At a lonely cabin in Tennessee he stopped 
for the night. When morning dawned this brave 
and noble man lay dead. No one knows whether, 
worn out, anxious, and mentally depressed, he took 
his own life, or whether he died by another's hand. 
We only know that the country lost a true patriot, 
and a man of rare worth and ability. In the exact 
center of Lewis County, Tennessee, he was buried, 
and a broken granite shaft marks the spot. Upon 
this monument are cut the words written of him 
by Jefferson : 

''His courage zvas tmdattnted ; his fi^^mness and 
perseverance yielded to nothing but ijnpossibilities. 
A rigid disciplinarian, yet tender as a father of 
those con unit ted to his charge ; honest, disinterestedy 
liberal, with a sotcnd understanding, and a scrupulous 
fidelity to truth!' 

As for William Clark, many years of useful- 
ness followed his safe return. He seems to have 
been peculiarly loved by the Indians. They affec- 
tionately called him " Red Head," and St. Louis, 
where he made his home, was known as " Red 
Head's town." For seventeen years he served 
his country in many different capacities ; but this 
service always brought him into close relations 
with the Indians„ His dealings with them were 



132 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



marked because of their strict honor. A man of 
his word, he believed that word should be as sacred 
with the Indian as with the white man. As a con- 
sequence, with them his word was law, and his 
signature was, in their figurative language, ''power- 
ful medicine." He died at the age of sixty-nine. 
While "great as a soldier, a statesman, a diplomat, 
and a patriot," he was perhaps greatest as an 
explorer. 

Of him the Indians once said in council : ''We 
have opened our ears to your words, and those of 
the Red Head's brother. We receive you as the 
son of the Red Head. Inasmuch as we love him, 
we love you, and do not wish to offend you." 



THE STORY OF 
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 




Coi'vi-i^'lite^l hy 

JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 



au>, Paterson, N.J. 



JOHN CHARLES FREMOiNT 



CHAPTER I 

A START IN LIFE 

The father of John Charles Fremont, when 
a young man, was driven from his home in France 
by political troubles. He sailed away from his 
native country, hoping to find refuge in the island 
of San Domingo, or Haiti. 

On the way across the ocean the vessel was cap 
tured by a British cruiser, and Mr. Fremont was 
made a prisoner of war. After some time, how- 
ever, he escaped, and finally landed in America and 
went to the little town of Norfolk, Virginia. 

There he made his living by teaching French 
and weaving baskets. Sometimes he earned 
money by decorating the ceilings of houses in an 
artistic fashion. 

All this time he was hoping and planning to re- 
turn to France. 

One day he met a beautiful Virginian girl, whom 

135 



136 JOHN CHARLES FRIEMONT 

he soon married. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Fremont decided to travel among the Indians 
in the South. There were many Indians in that 
part of the country in 181 2. There were no rail- 
roads then, and the only way of traveling was in 
carriages. Since there were no hotels, travelers 
had to carry their own beds, dishes, tents, and 
servants with them, and camp out. 

In 18 1 3, while Mr. and Mrs. Fremont were on 
one of these interesting journeys, their first son, 
John Charles Fremont, was born, in Savannah, 
Georgia. 

The child's first nurses were Indian squaws, and 
his mother says it frightened her very much to see 
them hand the tiny baby about from one Indian 
to another. Perhaps this is one reason why John 
Charles Fremont was always interested in Indians, 
and never felt so much at home as when he was 
traveling. 

While John Charles was still a young boy his 
father died, and Mrs. Fremont was left alone with 
her family of little children. 

Mr. Fremont's brother tried to induce Mrs. 
Fremont to return to France with the children, 
as had been planned before their father's death; 
but Mrs. Fremont wished to remain in America 



A START IN LIFE 137 

among her own friends. She therefore soon 
removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and there 
made her home. 

The young John Charles grew to be a large, 
and the writers say, a good, boy. He was unlike 
some other boys who became great men, notwith- 
standing their idleness in school ; for he studied 
with all his might, and learned more quickly than 
any other boy in his class. 

He mastered the most important rules of Latin 
in three weeks, and did equally good work in 
Greek and mathematics. 

It was very easy for him to commit to memory 
chapter after chapter from the Bible. He sometimes 
learned three hundred verses by heart in a day. 

There were two books which he always dearly 
loved : one was called " The Lives of Great and 
Daring Men," and the other was a Dutch book on 
astronomy. He could not read one word of the 
Dutch, but he pored over the maps and mathe- 
matical calculations, and in some way managed to 
learn a great deal about the stars. 

Many great and famous people came to his 
mother's home, and their interesting lives made 
him wish to do great things himself. Of course 
his mother had many plans for his future. 



138 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

She hoped he would become a minister ; but 
about this time he made one or two friends, with 
whom he went saiHng and picnicking so often that 
his studies were neglected, and he was finally sus- 
pended from school. 

I do not know whether the young man regretted 
this very much, but not long afterward a very dear 
sister died and a brother left home, and he sud- 
denly realized that his mother needed his help and 
comfort. He renewed his studies at once, and 
worked so hard that in a short time he was made 
teacher of mathematics on the sloop Natchez, 
where David G. Farragut was then a young lieuten- 
ant. He sailed on the sloop to South America and 
was gone two years. 

On his return John Charles Fremont was twenty 
years old, and had made such a fine record that 
the college which had expelled him gave him 
"honors," and allowed him to write the initials 
B. A. and M. A. after his name. A little later he 
was appointed to the frigate Independence, but 
declined the appointment, because he had found a 
more interesting kind of work. 

This work was surveying the lines of two rail- 
roads to be built — one from Charleston to Savan- 
nah, the other from Charleston to Cincinnati. 



FIRST WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT 139 

Mr. Fremont had now his first taste of explor- 
ing, and he liked it very much. He tells of the 
good honey and milk he had to eat, and the com- 
fortable homes of the farmers where the surveyors 
slept after their long days of tramping and 
working. 

One day he was asked by the government to 
make a journey among the Cherokee Indians in 
Georgia. These Indians lived in homes of their 
own, which the government had given them more 
than fifty years before. 

But now^ their land was becoming very valu- 
able, and the government decided to take it away 
from them and remove them to some place west 
of the Mississippi River. Mr. Fremont was in- 
structed to look the land over and see where it 
would be best to place an army, should one be 
needed to drive out the Indians. 



CHAPTER II 
FIRST WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT 

Mr. Fremont and two other men were sent out 
on this expedition. At the end of the first day 
they came to an Indian village where a great feast 



140 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

was being held. The Indian men were very drunk 
and very ugly. 

xA.s soon as the Indian women saw the white 
men come into the village they hastened to con- 
ceal them in a corn-crib until their husbands should 
become sober. There they spent a very wretched 
night, for the drunken red men made a great deal 
of noise, and the corn-crib was alive with rats that 
ran all over the travelers as soon as they lay down 
to sleep. 

In the morning they took a bath in the river. 
The water was so cold that their hair froze stiff 
while they were bathing. They often slept in 
Indian homes, or in tents beside a great camp fire. 
The little pigs that ran everywhere, growing fat 
on the chestnuts, made fine suppers for them. 

Mr. Fremont liked the Cherokee Indians very 
much, and was sorry to see them driven from their 
homes. 

After a few weeks his work was done and he 
returned home, where he learned that the govern- 
ment had still other duties for him to perform. 
President V'anJBuren desired him to go out to the 
country beween the Mississippi and Missouri rivers 
and obtain all the information he could about its 
resources and its people. He was to go with a Mr. 



FIRST WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT 141 

Nicollet, who was a fine scholar and an experi- 
enced explorer. 

Mr. Nicollet and Mr. Fremont met in St. Louis, 
where they were to obtain supplies and men for 
the journey. 

This city at that time was the starting-place 
for every one who was going West, and a quaint 
and interesting place it must have been. 

The houses stood far back from the street, in 
great shady yards, and were built with two porches, 
one above the other, called galleries. 

On these galleries the people spent much of 
their time. Here they would have their early 
breakfasts of coffee, bread, and fruit, and here 
chairs were always set for friends and visitors. 

There were no pavements in the streets, and 
throngs of Indians, Mexicans, trappers, hunters, 
priests, soldiers, and gay French people moved and 
loitered among the locust trees that lined the 
streets. 

Here our friends stayed a short time, collectnig 
the things needed for their journey. At last, when 
ever^^thing was ready, they left St. Louis for Fort 
Snelling, which was then on the border of the Indian 
lands in Minnesota. 

At Fort Snelling they spent much time in put- 



142 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

ting their instruments in order. They carried 
chronometers, thermometers, barometers, and tele- 
scopes with them, and also some instruments they 
could not understand at all. They ''rated" the 
chronometer; that is, they found out how much 
time it lost or gained in a day. They also tested 
the other instruments, to make sure they were 
correct. 

Then they set off by land with all their supplies 
in one-horse carts. They drove slowly along the 
banks of the Minnesota River, drawing maps, 
sketching the curious things they saw, and outlining 
the river's course. 

Each man had his work. 

One asked about the lakes and rivers, and 
learned their Indian names. Another collected 
specimens of plants. Mr. Fremont sometimes 
prospected for minerals and watched the stars, and 
made astronomical observations. 

Day after day they traveled on. Indians fol- 
lowed them, and they found it necessary to be on 
their guard day and night, lest some of them might 
be unfriendly. 

They visited the red pipe-stone quarry. This 
red stone was very precious to the Indians. They 
made their pipes and images of it, and all tribes 



FIRST WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT 143 

were permitted to use it, even when they were at war 
with the Sioux, in whose land it lay. The Indians 
said that the ** Spirit of the Quarry " always spoke 
in thunder and lightning to those who visited the 
quarry ; and when our party arrived there they 
were drenched by a heavy thunder-shower, which 
burst upon them as if the Spirit were indeed angry. 

Now they turned north. The Indians received 
them kindly wherever they went, and often tried 
to entertain them with games and hunts. 

In one great hunt all the inhabitants of an In- 
dian village took part. It was arranged by a white 
man who was a fur-trader, and it lasted several 
days. Each morning all the Indians and white 
men rode out for the hunt, leaving the Indian 
women to move the camp several miles across the 
country to a spot chosen by the chief. 

At night when the tired and hungry hunters 
came into the new camp they would find great 
fires burning. Over each fire large pieces of veni- 
son were cooking on pointed sticks, or in huge 
kettles filled with corn and rice. 

One night the men, being aroused from their 
sleep, saw a prairie fire raging and rapidly ap- 
proaching. They snatched brands from their 
camp fires, set fire to the grass nearest to them, 



144 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

and quickly cleared a large space around their 
tents. 

Over this clear space the rushing flames leaped, 
and when the campers dared to look up they saw 
that the fire had passed on, and was roaring and 
crackling in a grove of trees not far away. 

Soon after this the party returned to St. Louis 
to get ready for another expedition that was to be 
undertaken the following year. On this new ex- 
pedition they intended to explore the Missouri 
Valley and the great Northwest. 



CHAPTER III 

* SECOND EXPEDITION WITH NICOLLET 

Early in April, 1839, Mr. Fremont and his party 
left St. Louis in a small steamer. This vessel 
made its trips up the Missouri every year when 
the river was swollen by the spring rains, and on 
its return to St. Louis it brought the furs which 
the traders had collected during the winter from 
the Indians. 

After a journey of thirteen hundred miles our 
explorers reached the heart of the Indian country 
and left the river for the land. There were nine- 



SECOND EXPEDITION WITH NICOLLET 145 

teen men, thirty-three horses, and ten carts in the 
party. 

On the first day of their land journey they 
caftie in sight of a great herd of buffaloes. In- 
stantly the buffalo horses were made ready, guns 
were snatched up, and the hunters, dressed as 
lightly as possible, rode swiftly toward the lum- 
bering beasts, keeping well out of sight and 
smell. 

The herd was moving slowly along, feeding and 
grunting, as buffaloes always do when eating. 
As soon as they discovered the men, the buffa- 
loes plunged headlong toward the river. But each 
hunter had chosen his buffalo, and he followed 
him until he had killed him. 

In the dust and rush, Mr. Fremont lost sight of 
his companions, and after killing his buffalo, sat 
down to rest. When he started on again he could 
see no sign of human beings. He was lost on the 
prairies. 

When night came he walked in the darkness, 
following the tracks of the buffaloes and looking for 
signs of the camp. At last the gleam of a rocket 
far up in the sky told him that he was missed at 
camp, and showed him where it lay. But it was 
fifteen miles away! Laying his gun down so that it 



146 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

pointed toward the place where the rocket had 
been seen, Mr. Fremont brought water in his hat 
to his horse, unsaddled him, and using the saddle 
for his owm pillow, lay down and slept soundly 
till morning. 

He started early for the camp. As he rode 
rapidly along he saw three' men on horseback 
galloping furiously toward him. They did not 
draw rein when they saw him, but rode faster than 
ever. The one who was ahead rode straight at 
Mr. Fremont, touched his sleeve, and then sud- 
denly brought his horse to a full stop. By this he 
earned the large reward which Mr. Nicollet had 
promised to the man who should first touch the 
lost hunter. 

This was Mr. Fremont's first buffalo hunt. The 
country was covered with herds of buffaloes, and 
their manner of living was full of interest. 

The men noticed that when it was cold and 
snowy the herds kept moving. This was because 
the buffaloes on the edge of the herd were trying 
to get into the middle, where they would be kept 
warmer by the heat from one another's bodies. 
The buffaloes in the middle would fight to stay 
where they were, and so the whole herd was kept 
from freezing by the continual struggle. 



SECOND EXPEDITION WITH NICOLLET 147 

For days our party moved along with the great 
beasts always in sight. 

They rode through the herd by day and were 
encircled by it at night. The Indians organized 
grand hunts, to which the white men were often 
invited, and in turn the Indians were one day in- 
vited to dine with the explorers. 

At this queer dinner party, each guest was 
seated on a buffalo skin and given a tin plate and 
spoon. 

The Indians sat very still until all the tin plates 
were filled with a stew of buffalo meat and rice. 
Each chief silently tasted the stew, then solemnly 
laid down his spoon and looked at his next neigh- 
bor in a very strange way. 

They thought the stew had been poisoned, for 
the cook had flavored it with some cheese, and 
that was a kind of food which they had never 
tasted. But when the cheese was shown them, 
and they were told that the white men could eat 
it unharmed, they ate it even if they did not 
like it. 

For dessert, water sweetened with molasses 
was served in large iron kettles, and this the In- 
dians liked very much. 

Leaving these good friends, our men put some 



148 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

green veils around the brims of their straw hats 
to keep away mosquitoes, packed their goods, and 
rode away toward Devil's Lake. 

This lake was called the ''Heart of the En- 
chanted Water" by the Indians, and there our 
party remained a few days, drawing some maps 
and writing a description of the country. By look- 
ing in your geography you will find that Devil's 
Lake is in the northern part of the present state 
of North Dakota. 

This was to be the northern limit of their jour- 
ney, and after exploring the shores of the lake 
they turned east, making their way by the easiest 
route to the Red River of the North. Up this 
river they traveled, carefully examining the coun- 
try and making many sketches. 

The prairies were covered with flowers, white 
settlers were frequently seen, and in November 
they arrived at Prairie du Chien, on the Missis- 
sippi River. Here they found a little steamboat 
ready to carry them to St. Louis, but the men 
were tired and decided to rest a day and take the 
next boat down the river. 

In the morning the river was frozen from bank 
to bank, and the next boat would not come until 
the following spring. To reach home they must 



MARRIAGE 149 

now travel on foot. That one day's wait caused 
them weeks of weary plodding over the snow- 
covered prairies of Illinois before they finally 
arrived at St. Louis. 



CHAPTER IV 
MARRIAGE 

The President was very much pleased with the 
reports which Nicollet and Fremont brought back 
of the rich country, beautiful lakes, and navigable 
rivers they had explored. 

There were many discussions in Congress as to 
whether it would be worth while to try to settle 
this land with white people. 

Bills were introduced urging the founding of a 
colony at the mouth of the Columbia River, in 
order to protect American interests in the fur and 
whale trade of the Pacific Ocean. The govern- 
ment also hoped to establish a route to Asia 
through some Western port. 

In the mean while, Mr. Fremont and Mr. Nicol- 
let were hard at work on their reports and maps. 
All this work was done in Washington, and many 
senators and other public men were so interested 



150 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

in it that they often came to see Mr. Nicollet and 
Mr. Fremont. 

Among these men was Senator Benton of Mis- 
souri. Senator Benton was a broad-minded and 
earnest man, full of great plans for his country. 
He believed this vast Western country was well 
worth keeping for the United States. 

He thought always of the western route to 
Asia, and he used to say, pointing to the west: 

"There lies the East; there lies the road to 
India." 

Day after day he went to the rooms where the 
young men were at work, pored over their maps, 
examined their collections of plants, animals, and 
minerals, and asked many questions. He believed 
in these young men, and was planning to have 
them sent out on still more important expeditions. 

Senator Benton often invited Mr. Fremont to 
his home. Here the young man met Miss Jessie 
Benton, who was a charming young girl, not yet 
out of school. Mr. Fremont wished to marry her, 
but she was very young, and her family, although 
they admired the young man, would not consent 
because of her youth. 

Just at this time Mr. PVemont was suddenly 
sent away to explore the Des Moines River. This 



MARRIAGE 



151 



he did with great dispatch and success, and upon 
his return to Washington he was married to Miss 
Benton at the 
home of a 
mutual friend. 

This mar- 
riage proved 
to be a very 
happy one. 
Mrs. Fremont 
sympathized 
with her hus- 
band in all his 
plans and 
work. She 
wrote for him, 
suggested 
new ideas, 
and with per- 
fect success 
conducted his 
business when 
he was away. She showed herself -to be not only 
a young woman of great beauty and charm, but a 
very intelligent one as well. 

In his journal Mr. Fremont says: ''Her qual- 




J ESSIE BENTON FRitMONT, 1901 



152 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

ities were all womanly, and education had curi- 
ously preserved the dower of a modesty which 
was innate. There had been no experience of 
life to brush away the bloom. There was a rare 
union of intelligence to feel the injury of events, 
and submission to bear them in silence and dis- 
cretion; and withal a sweet and happy and for- 
bearing temper which has remained proof against 
the wearing of time." 



CHAPTER V 

FIRST INDEPENDENT WESTERN EXPEDITION 

The government finally decided to send out an 
exploring party to the Far West as ''an aid to the 
emigration to the Lower Columbia." 

It was expected that Mr. Nicollet would be the 
leader, but he was too ill to accept the appoint- 
ment, and the command was therefore given to 
Mr. Fremont. 

He was to examine the line of western travel, 
and carefully describe it. He was also to select 
positions for forts. He was to go as far west as 
the South Pass, discovered by Lewis and Clark, 
and used by all travelers to the Columbia River. 



FIRST WESTERN EXPEDITION 



153 



This pass was near the source of the Platte 
River, in the western part of what is now the 
state of Wyoming. The journey was to end there, 
and the expedition was to return to Washington. 

The news of his 
appointment to this 
responsible posi- 
tion reached Mr. 
Fremont on New- 
Year's Day, 1842. 
The following May, 
seven months after 
his marriage, and 
when Mr. Fremont 
was only twenty- 
nine years old, he 
started on this 
journey. ^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 

From St. Louis 
he went by steamboat to the mouth of the Kan- 
sas River. 

On the boat he met the famous scout, Kit Car- 
son, who had just been to St. Louis to place his 
little daughter in school. The two became good 
friends, and Mr. Fremont persuaded Kit Carson 
to act as the guide on the expedition. 




154 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

They landed at '' Chouteaus," near the mouth 
of the Kansas River, and spent twenty days mak- 
ing preparations for the overland journey. On 
the loth of June, 1842, everything was ready. 
The party was armed and mounted. Eight men 
drove the eight baggage-carts, filled with pro- 
visions, gifts, and instruments. Each cart was 
drawn by two mules. A few extra horses and 
oxen straggled along behind, to be used in case of 
necessity. 

At first they passed many Indian farms, but 
were soon on the open prairie, which stretched 
before them like an ocean. 

When night came on the party halted. The 
eight carts were placed in the form of a circle, the 
tents were pitched, and the horses were turned 
out to grass. The four cooks built their fires and 
prepared the supper. 

As it grew dark the horses were tied by 
long ropes to stakes driven into the ground, 
a guard was mounted, and the tired men fell 
asleep. 

At the first streak of daylight the men were up, 
the horses were fed, breakfast was eaten, and by 
seven o'clock all were in line, moving west. Rainy 
days, hot days, cool days, sunny days, followed 



FIRST WESTERN EXPEDITION 155 

each other rapidly, and the journey went regu- 
larly on. 

Among their supplies was a rubber boat; this 
they used to carry their wagons across the rivers. 
One day, after six of the wagons had been safely 
ferried across a small river, Mr. Fremont decided 
to put the other two into the boat at one time, 
for it was nearly night. The wagons were safely 
loaded, a man took the line in his teeth and swam 
ahead to help pull the boat across, when suddenly 
the load capsized, and boxes and barrels went 
gayly floating down stream. 

The men leaped into the water, and managed 
to save everything but a bag of coffee and a large 
quantity of sugar, which of course dissolved. 

The Indians were friendly, and brought coffee, 
vegetables, and butter to the party; for they were 
used to the emigrant trains which often traveled 
along this route. 

One day, however, our men were alarmed by a 
shout of ** Indians! " Kit Carson leaped to his 
feet, sprang bareheaded upon his unsaddled horse, 
and galloped away to investigate. In a few min- 
utes he came back to tell the men that the Indians 
were only elks quietly feeding. 

On the morning of July 4th the explorers were 



156 ' JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

entertained by a race, which was more exciting 
than Fourth of July races usually are. 

The men were at breakfast, when suddenly a 
buffalo calf landed in the midst of the camp, hotly 
chased by two wolves. The wolves ran around 
the camp; the calf went through it. This gave 
him a little better chance, for he was making a 
straight dash for a herd two miles distant. But 
soon another wolf joined the chase, then another 
and another, until there were twenty or thirty of 
them, and the poor calf was overtaken, and half 
eaten before he was dead. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE PARTY DIVIDED 

In order to explore the country more thor- 
oughly the party was now divided, and started in 
different directions to meet at South Pass. 

It was a hard journey for all, for the days were 
hot, the sand was deep, food poor, and water 
scarce. 

At night Mr. Fremont set up his little water- 
proof tent around three guns tied together. This 
made a very small tent, but under it the instru- 



THE PARTY DIVIDED 157 

ments were put, and then Mr. Fremont himself 
would lie down with his head among the in- 
struments. If it rained, his head at least was 
dry. 

Just before they came to Fort Laramie they 
found that not all Indians were so friendly as 
those they had formerly met. A party of two or 
three hundred were on the point of attacking the 
white men, when the foremost Indian was recog- 
nized by one of Fremont's men, and the whole 
party of braves swept by like the wind. 

The fact that there were a good many forts 
through this part of the country probably served 
to hold the Indians in check. 

These forts were queerly but wisely built. First 
a mud wall was made about fifteen feet high. On 
top of this stakes were driven as close together as 
possible. The outside walls were really the backs 
of the houses, which were built around a hollow 
square. On two of the corners of the inclosure 
towers were built, and over the gateway was an- 
other tower. The houses had windows opening 
upon the inclosed square, and there the fur- 
traders lived with their wives and children. 

Our party remained at Fort Laramie for several 
days. Wild stories of the Indians came to them. 



158 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

The men were badly frightened, and even Kit 
Carson made his will. But Mr. Fremont felt that 
he must complete the exploration as it had been 
planned, and rallying the men about him, he urged 
those who were afraid to remain behind. Only 
one man refused to go on. The rest were ready 
to follow their leader anywhere. 

The explorers were now beset with many diffi- 
culties. Some of their instruments were lost. They 
had no bread of any kind, and their only food was 
buffalo meat, which had been cooked, covered 
with tallow, and packed into bags. It looked and 
tasted like pieces of wood. 

At length they reached the mountains and be- 
gan the ascent. The sure-footed mules carried 
the men safely from rock to rock. Up and up they 
climbed till they came to the snow line. 

Fremont was the first one to reach the crest, 
where from the top of a cliff which was almost 
perpendicular, he looked down into a snow-field 
five hundred feet below him. 

The point on which he stood was only a tiny 
ledge. It was the summit of one of the highest 
mountains in the range, the mountain which is 
still called ''Fremont's Peak." There he planted 
the Stars and Stripes. 



THE PARTY DIVIDED 159 

From this great height he overlooked ''innu- 
merable lakes and springs. On one side was the 
source of the Colorado of the West, and on the 
other the Wind River Valley, where were the 
heads of the Yellowstone branch of the Missouri. 
Far to the north he could discover the sunny 
heads of the Trois Tetons, where were the 
sources of the Missouri and Columbia rivers. And 
on the southern extremity of the ridge the peaks 
were plainly visible, among which are found some 
of the headsprings of the Nebraska or Platte 
rivers." 

The explorers descended the mountain and 
continued their journey homeward. Down the 
Sweetwater and the Platte they went, using their 
rubber boat whenever they could. 

At some places the current was very strong 
and rapid as it plunged through some deep gulch 
or canon. In one of these canons they came to 
grief. The men had been struggling all day to 
hold the boat back and keep it off the rocks, but 
it finally broke away, cleared rock after rock, shot 
over one fall after another, threw the men into 
the water, and finally capsized entirely. 

Without guns or ammunition, soaking wet, and 
barefooted, the explorers clambered up the rocks 



l6o JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

and went on, leaving one man to recover the boat 
as best he could. 

At a point a little lower down they returned to 
the river and embarked upon it in a ''bull boat." 

These boats were made in a curious way. Buf- 
falo skins were sewed together and stretched over 
a willow frame. The seams were calked with a 
mixture of ashes and tallow, and the boat was dried 
a day or two in the sun. All this work was useless, 
however, for the river was no longer navigable, 
and the ''bull boat" was abandoned on the river's 
bank. 

The Missouri was finally reached. Horses and 
carts w^ere sold, a boat was made ready, and the 
explorers were soon floating rapidly toward the 
longed-for harbor at St. Louis. Just five months 
after his departure, Mr. Fremont was again in 
Washington. 



* 



CHAPTER VII 

SECOND INDEPENDENT EXPEDITION 

Almost before the reports of his former expe- 
dition were prepared, a plan was perfected for 
another one. This time Mr. Fremont was to pro- 



SECOND INDEPENDENT EXPEDITION i6l 

ceed to South Pass by a new route; and from that 
place he was to explore the country south of the 
Columbia River between the Rocky Mountains 
and the Pacific Ocean. 

Early in 1843, he and Mrs. Fremont left for 
St. Louis. Thenewexpedition was to be equipped 
on a larger scale than any that had preceded it. 

There were thirty-nine men in the party, and 
their supplies were packed into twelve mule-carts, 
while a light wagon carried the instruments. A 
small howitzer was a new feature of the outfit, and 
a mill for grinding grain was also taken along. 

The objects which were to be attained by this 
expedition were, first, to find some new route to 
Oregon and California, and second, to explore 
thoroughly the Arkansas River to its sources. 

During the first part of the journey they knew 
just what was before them. There were streams 
to be bridged or forded; there was game to be 
killed; there were Indians to be watched, plants 
to be gathered, sketches to be drawn, and obser- 
vations to be taken. 

As they approached the Rocky Mountains the 
country became dry and sandy; the rivers grew 
shallow and dropped out of sight in the sand; and 
the mountains lifted themselves in the distance, 



l62 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

''grand and luminously white, covered to their 
bases with glittering snow." 

They passed within full view of Pike's Peak, and 
food being scarce, they turned a little to the right 
in the hope of finding better supplies. One morn- 
ing they surprised a grizzly bear that was hard at 
work digging up a breakfast of roots. 

When the animal saw the men he charged 
upon them so suddenly that their horses in shying 
almost pitched them from their saddles. One shot 
struck the bear — again he charged. Another shot 
— another charge, until the sixth shot put an end 
to the fight. 

After many weary days of travel the explorers 
at length arrived at Great Salt Lake. This lake 
had never been visited except by Indians or trap- 
pers. Not far from its shores the explorers dis- 
covered some hot springs which threw their steam- 
ing waters many feet into the air. The ground 
gave out a rumbling sound and seemed on the 
point of bursting open. It was a strange and 
interesting place, and one did not wonder that 
the Indians believed the land bewitched. 

The Great Salt Lake did not prove to be so 
dreadful as they had anticipated. The rubber 
boat was unpacked and prepared for service, and 



l64 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

the men discussed their proposed voyage on the 
lake as they sat about their supper of roots and a 
small duck some one had secured. 

The next morning the rubber boat was 
launched, and the day was spent in drifting down 
a little creek which flowed into the lake. Thou- 
sands of birds flew about them, and the air seemed 
full of plovers. 

But the water was so shallow they were obliged 
to drag the boat for a mile through ill-smelling 
mud. Suddenly they found that the water was so 
salty that it stung the tongue to taste it. And 
now, to their distress, the boat sprang a leak. The 
waves began to rise, spray flew over them, their 
hands and clothes were covered with salt. Penally 
they were forced to land on a large island. 

That night they were obliged to camp in a place 
so low and swampy that willow branches were piled 
on the ground to keep them out of the mud and 
water. But they supped royally on roast ducks 
and geese, and slept soundly on the willows. 

The next day they returned to the mainland 
safely, and at once made plans to secure a new 
supply of salt. They had had none for a long time, 
but here they could easily get all they wanted. 

From Great Salt Lake our explorers proceeded 



SECOND INDEPENDENT EXPEDITION 165 

to what is now the southeast corner of the state 
of Washington. They were then a thousand miles 
from South Pass, and two thousand miles from St. 
Louis. 

Mount Hood was in sight, and toward that 
snowy height they moved along the banks of the 
wonderful Columbia River, with its canons and 
rapids. Emigrants had been coming into this 
region for several years, and all about our trav- 
elers were signs of civilization. 

They passed within hearing of the great falls 
of the Columbia, which Lewis and Clark had been 
the first to discover, and there they saw the same 
tribes of dirty and degraded savages. 

One fine day they came upon a schoolhouse 
and a mission station. There a number of canoes 
were procured, and the tired explorers embarked 
upon the stream. Down the great Columbia they 
sped, arriving in due time at Fort Vancouver, the 
western limit of their long journey. 

It would have been a great pleasure to Mr. 
Fremont to see the Pacific, but he was under 
orders and felt he had no right to go farther. So 
after a short delay the homeward journey was 
begun. 



1 66 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

CHAPTER VIII 

IN THE FAR NORTHWEST 

Mr. Fremont was a very strong man. It is 
said that he always used a wooden saddle with no 
covering at all, and that he could ride farther than 
any of his men without resting. A story is told 
of his riding eight hundred miles in eight days. 

No matter how cold it might be, he never wore 
an overcoat. His men said that on some nights 
he would sit for hours in the snow when the ther- 
mometer showed twenty or thirty degrees below 
zero, waiting for a star to arrive at the exact point 
for an observation. 

He had need of all his strength and endurance. 

The weather on the Columbia was cold and 
wet. Heavy fog that turned to water when it 
touched the hair or face hung over them day and 
night. 

The path grew more and more rugged until 
the mountains were crossed. Then the weather 
became sunny and beautiful, and the river was 
suddenly very interesting. 

The great mountain peaks of Rainier, St. 
Helen's, and Mount Hood were successively in 



IN THE FAR NORTHWEST 167 

sight, as the explorers forded streams and clam- 
bered over jagged bowlders. 

While crossing one of these streams the mule 
that was carrying the sugar fell, and the sugar be- 
came molasses at once. This was a loss which 
the men sincerely mourned. 

At intervals they passed the curious huts of the 
Klamath Indians. These huts had rounded roofs, 
through which the family or visitor entered. Hung 
inside of these roofs were strings of smoked and 
dried fish. The people wore odd-looking shoes, 
made of straw and grass, baskets for caps, and 
shells for nose ornaments. 

No guides could be secured from these Indians, 
and the party pressed on over the mountains, 
floundering through deep snow, and coaxing the 
animals to follow them. 

Finally they arrived at the crest of the range, 
and standing in snow three feet deep, they looked 
down a thousand feet into a beautiful lake sur- 
rounded by green fields and fertile hills. 

It was no easy matter to get down to this lake. 
The way was so steep that one of the mules lost 
its footing, and rolled two or three hundred feet 
into a ravine without being hurt at all. 

At times the water was so full of salt that the 



l68 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

men went without food, because there was no water 
with which to cook it. At other times they would 
dig deep holes in the ground, and filter the water; 
and though it was still very bad, it could then 
be used for cooking. On Christmas Day they 
managed to make some salty coffee, in which there 
was a little sugar. This was a fine feast for them. 

Indians were always in sight, the country was a 
desert, the horses' feet were cut to pieces on the 
rocks, water was always scarce, and New-Year's 
Day found the explorers very wretched indeed. 

All these hardships made Fremont decide 
to pass over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
attempt to enter the Sacramento Valley. 



CHAPTER IX 
OVER THE SIERRA NEVADAS 

The Indians skimmed about our party day after 
day on their snowshoes. They were not afraid 
of the guns of the white men. Hiding behind 
rocks, these Indians laughed at the white men 
floundering in the snow, while they glided along 
as easily as if on wings. 

From these Indians Mr. Fremont learned that 



OVER THE SIERRA NEVADAS [69 

they had not been crossing the mountains at all, 
but traveling along the crest of a range which 
formed the western edge of the great American 
Basin. 

To reach the coast there was still another 
mountain range to cross. 

The Indians said that the men could never cross 
the mountains so late in the season. They drew 
their hands across their necks and above their 
heads, to show that the snow would bury them. 
They shut their eyes and shook their heads, to say 
they knew nothing of the terrible way ahead, and 
could not guide the white men. 

At last a splendid young Indian consented to 
lead the way. Fremont gave him some fine, gay 
clothes, and he made a brilliant picture as he 
stalked ahead. Behind him one man came lead- 
ing a horse and breaking a path for those who fol- 
lowed. When this man became exhausted he 
would drop behind and the next man and horse 
would take his place. 

The horses began to fail. Their packs were 
thrown away, but even then they had no strength 
to climb. The snow grew deeper. The trail was 
strewn with camp belongings. Their way led, as 
one old Indian had told them it would, over 'Vock 



I70 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

upon rock, rock upon rock, snow upon snow, snow 
upon snow." The nights were so cold they could 
not sleep. The guide threw his gay blanket over 
his head and began to w^ail. 

The end seemed near, when a small party that 
had gone ahead on snowshoes suddenly discovered 
the valley which they were seeking lying far below 
them. 

Miles of snow stretched before them, but they 
now knew where they were, and hope revived. 
Dreadful days followed, as, faint with hunger and 
fatigue, and blinded by the snow, they pressed on, 
slowly dragging their sledges of supplies and urg- 
ing on their starving animals. They little realized 
that eighty miles of distress and misery must still 
be passed before they reached their journey's end. 



CHAPTER X 
THE DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY 

Although the men were full of hope they found 
the drifts as deep as ever. They used axes and 
mauls to pack the snow so that it would support 
the weight of their animals. The men themselves 
crawled along on their hands and knees. 



THE DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY 171 

In crossing a frozen stream Mr. Fremont slipped, 
broke through the ice, and fell into deep water. 
Kit Carson plunged in to pull him out, and both 
men splashed to the bank, where they built a fire 
and dried their dripping clothes. 

A few days more of agony, and the valley was 
reached. It seemed like heaven to the men as 
they feasted on a supper of boiled mule meat. 
They were wild with delight at the sight of grass, 
budding branches, butterflies, and flowers. 

One poor man lost his reason and wandered 
away into the woods. He never returned. Two 
other men were gone for days, but finally struggled 
back to camp more dead than alive. 

A night's rest in an adobe house refreshed the 
explorers, who went back over their trail the next 
day to meet some of their companions who had 
fallen behind. 

Lean, ragged, and thin, the poor fellows came 
in. Only thirty-three of their sixt3^-seven horses 
survived to reach the valley. 

How the explorers enjoyed the lovely scene 
before them after their terrible journey through 
the mountains! Here was a comfortable house 
built of sun-dried brick, low and yellow. Large 
wheatfields stretched on all sides. Indian men 



172 



JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 



were plowing and Indian girls carrying water to 
the gardens. 

This place was the ranch of a certain Captain 
Sutter, and was very famous in that day. Cap- 




SUTTER'S FORT 

tain Sutter's residence consisted of several low 
adobe houses built around a hollow square. 

The backs of these houses formed the wall of 
the fort, on top of which were twelve pieces of 
artillery. Within the houses were quarters for the 
soldiers, blacksmith and other shops, a distillery, 
and the dwelling of Captain Sutter. 

After resting here for nearly a month, the re- 



HOMEWARD 1 73 

freshed explorers renewed their march, directing 
their course southward. They hoped, by going 
that way, to avoid the severe mountain journey 
and to cross the San Joaquin Valley. 

From the San Joaquin they would follow the 
Los Angeles trail to Santa Fe in New Mexico, 
then move northeast to the head waters of the 
Arkansas River, whence they could easily return 
to St. Louis. 

CHAPTER XI 
HOMEWARD 

For days they traveled through the lovely Cali- 
fornia country. To breathe was a pleasure, and 
the men looked with delight upon the fields of 
gorgeous poppies, the delicate mariposa lilies, and 
the blossoming trees. 

The scouts moved ahead, the ''pack animals, 
baggage, and the horned cattle being in the cen- 
ter." The advance and rear guards were com- 
posed of Indians, Germans, French, Spanish, and 
Americans. Slowly they trailed along, through a 
land that seemed a paradise on earth, until one 
day a great shout announced that they had reached 
the ''Spanish trail." 



174 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

To-day in the vestibuled trains of the Santa Fe 
railroad we follow this very line of the Spanish 
trail. In those days it was a dangerous journey, 
for the land was swarming with hostile Indians, 
there was only a narrow trail through the desert, 
and there was almost no water. 

One day a band of hostile savages drove off 
the horses belonging to Mr. Fremont's party. 
Three men started in hot pursuit. One horse gave 
out, but the other two riders tore along the trail, 
found the horses, attacked, killed, and scalped 
two of the thieves, and drove away the others. 

Some of the horses had been killed, and their 
flesh was already boiling in great kettles, prepar- 
atory to a great feast. But the party was broken 
up, and the refreshments (in the shape of the rest 
of the horses ) were driven back to their owners. 

The desert stretched on all sides. Deposits 
of alkali lay like light snow on the ground, hurting 
the eyes and the skin. The water, when found, 
was unfit to drink, and almost every step of the 
way was marked, as it is to-day, with the bleach- 
ing bones of poor animals that could not stand 
the dreadful journey. 

How the sun beat down! The men chewed 
the leaves of the sand plants to moisten their dry 



176 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

mouths, and were always on guard lest the Indians 
should swoop down upon them. 

In May they touched the shores of Great Salt 
Lake, which they had left in the preceding Sep- 
tember. In the intervening months they had 
traversed a circuit of three thousand five hundred 
miles, and made a map of the West a possible 
thing. 

From Great Salt Lake the way was well known. 
Pike's Peak once more loomed in sight. Their 
familiar friends, the buffaloes, were about them. 

At the end of a few days they reached the point 
where Kansas City now stands. Thence a tiny 
steamer carried them down the muddy Missouri 
to St. Louis, and another great journey was suc- 
cessfully completed. 



CHAPTER XII 

TROUBLE WITH THE MEXICANS 

The reports which Mr. Fremont brought back 
of the lovely climate of California, the beautiful 
scenery, the fertile lands, the huge trees, the broad 
grassy plains, and the fields of grain, made many 
people wish to go there. 



TROUBLE WITH THE MEXICANS 1 77 

The government felt that California must be 
acquired from Mexico, if possible, in *' an honor- 
able and just manner." If Mexico would not give 
it up willingly, it must be acquired by force. Re- 
ports began to be heard that Mexico was prepar- 
ing for war. 

Just at this time Mr. Fremont was again sent 
out. He was to travel over much of the same 
ground as on other journeys, and he was to watch 
closely the interests of the United States. 

The party was to go to the head waters of the 
Arkansas, Rio Grande, and Colorado rivers, touch 
again at Salt Lake, and cross the Cascade and 
Sierra Nevada ranges to find an easy pass through 
the mountains. Much of this was an old story to 
the men, and they fell into the hard work very 
readily. 

But winter was near. The party was divided 
into two companies, in order to examine all the 
points of interest closely. One company was to 
go direct to Lake Tulare, the other to the same 
place by way of Sutter's camp. 

Sutter's camp was reached by Fremont's party; 
but when they proceeded to Lake Tulare they 
found that the other division had not arrived. 
The Indians watched every chance to steal their 



178 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

horses. The camp was closely guarded day and 
night. 

Feeling pretty sure that all would be well, Mr. 
Fremont left his party, and with seven men made 
a call upon the Mexican authorities in Monterey. 
He wished to get leave to have his party refitted 
on Mexican soil. 

• Permission was given, and for a month they 
rested, while everything was put in order for a 
longer trip. 

One afternoon a Mexican cavalry officer rode 
into the camp. He gave some letters to Captain 
Fremont, signed by the Mexican official, General 
Castro, commanding Captain Fremont to leave the 
country at once. Threats were added if he should 
not obey. 

Captain Fremont replied that both he and his 
country had been insulted, and he would not 
leave. He moved his camp to a hill near by, where 
there was plenty of grass and water, and a fine 
view of the country on all sides. He built a rough 
fort of logs, and hoisted the American flag above 
it. The party remained there for three days, while 
a force of Mexican soldiers was gathering in the 
valley below. 

On the third day the flag accidentally fell^ but 



A GOVERNMENT MESSAGE 179 

as no attack had been made, Captain Fremont 
decided to move on. B-ut .the order from the Mex- 
ican government seemed very strange. 

The American consul sent letters to Wash- 
ington, asking for instructions. He asked the 
commanders of American war vessels at San 
Bias, or Mazatlan, to send a ship to Monterey at 
once. 

Everything seemed quiet, however, and Cap- 
tain Fremont moved on up the Sacramento Val- 
ley. Mount Shasta soon came in sight. The fields 
were covered with poppies. Frightened bands of 
antelopes hurtled through the bushes, and deer fled 
when they saw the men coming. 

The weather was perfect, and there seemed 
nothing unpleasant at hand. But these easy days 
were only the calm before the breaking of the 
storm. 



CHAPTER XIII 
A GOVERNMENT MESSAGE 

As Captain Fremont was standing alone by his 
camp fire one night, thinking of his work and en- 
joying the warm blaze under the chilly shadow of 



l8o JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

the mountain, he heard the sound of horses' feet. 
His own horses were quietly grazing. Indians 
would never come in such a fashion. What could 
it mean? 

As he stood listening intently, two men on 
horseback rode wearily into the circle of fire- 
light. Fremont had known them both. They 
had ridden hard, a hundred miles, to inform him 
of the coming of a messenger with letters from 
Washington. They feared this messenger had 
been killed, for the Indians were known to be 
skulking near. 

Nothing could be done that night, but at dawn 
a strong and fearless, party of men were sent to 
find the messenger, Captain Gillespie. 

They met him at nightfall. Our men had not 
heard from home for eleven months, and they 
knew this messenger must have important news 
to have followed them so far. 

Captain Gillespie told them that the United 
States was on the point of going to war with 
Mexico, and that Fremont, the explorer, was now 
to do all he could to secure California for the 
United States. 

He was to learn what the men of California 
wanted, and whether they were friendly toward the 



A GOVERNMENT MESSAGE t8i 

United States. He was to learn what he could of 
England's plans regarding California; and he was 
to act as he thought best for the good of the 
United States. 

Late at night Fremont sat alone by the low- 
burning camp fire, excited by the news, and con- 
sidering what should be done. 

He re-read the letters and tried to interpret 
their meaning. At last he made up his mind that 
the government meant to say to him: ''The 
time has come. England must not get a foothold 
in California. We must be first; act discreetly, 
but positively." 

The messenger, Gillespie, was directed to act 
in concert with Fremont. 

The plan was to secure California before any 
foreign vessel could arrive in her ports. 

Just as this was coming clearly into his mind, 
there was a sudden and frightened movement 
among the horses and mules. Taking his revol- 
ver in his hand, Captain Fremont went out among 
them. The mules had stopped eating, and stood 
listening, with their long ears stuck straight out in 
front of them. 

Now, mules are good sentinels, and their con- 
duct betokened the presence of Indians ; but none 



l82 JOHN CHx\RLES FREMONT 

could be found, and Captain Fremont went back 
to the fire and his letters. 

Once more he considered every possible plan. 
Remembering his instructions when he left Wash- 
ington, and knowing that the United States gov- 
ernment wished to make the Pacific Ocean its 
western boundary, he decided to go back to the 
Sacramento Valley. As he was the only army 
officer in California, he would make his party a 
small army of conquest. 

Having thus made up his mind. Captain Fre- 
mont wrapped his blankets about him, and crept 
under the low-spreading branches of a cedar tree 
to sleep. 

Just as he fell into a doze a shout from Kit 
Carson aroused him. The camp was astir with 
excitement. Startled from their sleep by a dull 
thud, the explorers had found two of their party 
dead, with tomahawks buried in their heads. 

White men and Indians snatched their rifles 
just as a band of savages made an attack upon the 
camp. The fires were smoldering. 

"We hung blankets to the cedar boughs and 
bushes near by, for a defense against the arrows," 
says Captain Fremont. ''The Indians continued 
to pour in their arrows. Every movement on 



A GOVERNMENT MESSAGE 183 

their part brought a rifle shot from us. All night 
we lay behind our blanket defenses, with our rifles 
cocked in our hands, expecting another attack, 
until the morning light enabled us to see that the 
Indians had disappeared. By their tracks we 
found that fifteen or twenty Klamaths had attacked 
us." 

This attack was very hard to forgive, because 
Captain Fremont had given these very Indians 
friendly presents, and divided the only food he 
had with them but a few days before. 

Among Fremont's men were some Indians who 
were deadly enemies of these Klamath Indians, 
and they were determined to have revenge. The 
party cleaned their rifles, and started in grim pur- 
suit. The whole country was astir, and Indians 
on all sides were gathering for battle. 

The men continued to pursue the Indians for 
days, and their rifles had need to be quick and 
ready to ward off the poisoned arrows of the sav- 
ages. 

As Captain Fremont and Kit Carson were 
riding along together one day they came full upon 
an Indian, his arrow drawn to the head and aimed 
at Carson. Captain Fremont fired instantly, but 
missed, and Kit Carson would have been a dead 



l84 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

man had it not been for Fremont's horse Sacra- 
mento. 

This horse was a wonderful creature. He had 
carried his master thousands of miles, and seemed 
to have as much intelligence as a man. Sacra- 
mento sprang full at the Indian, knocked him down, 
and the man w^ho rode behind dispatched the sav- 
age at once. 



CHAPTER XIV 

FREMONT'S WAR 

Captain Fremont believed that the Indians 
wished the English to get California from the 
Mexicans. He felt that these Indians were hostile 
to the United States, for his own party was con- 
stantly being attacked by them. He also learned 
that the English were furnishing the Indians with 
arrowheads and tomahawks. 

So he wrote a letter to Senator Benton, telling 
him that he thought the English should be driven 
at once from the posts they held, otherwise they 
might be expected to become masters in Cali- 
fornia. 

He then wrote to th^ commander of an Amer- 



FREMONT'S WAR 185 

ican war vessel in the harbor of Monterey, asking 
for supplies for his party. These supplies were 
received, together with a letter offering Captain 
Fremont any help he might need. 

News came soon afterward that the Indians 
were gathering in the mountains, prepared for war. 
It was also said that the Indians were being urged 
to burn the crops of the American settlers. 

The settlers begged Captain Fremont to pro- 
tect them, and they also sent a petition to the 
American war vessels lying at anchor in the 
harbors. 

Protection was promised the settlers, when a 
message came from some Mexicans, saying they 
were willing to organize a separate government 
in California, under a foreign power, but they 
were not willing that the United States should be 
that power. All this was in the fall of 1845. 

In view of these rumors and the fears of the 
American settlers, Captain Fremont moved his 
camp among the buttes of the Sacramento, and 
there the Americans gathered to tell of their 
troubles and to protect themselves in case of any 
outbreak. 

The grain fields were ready for the harvest. 
The firing of them was expected any moment. 



l86 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

The Mexican General Castro was collecting droves 
of horses. One of these droves was captured by 
Fremont's men. War seemed unavoidable, and 
Captain Fremont decided to strike the first blow. 

He has been severely criticized for this. Many 
people felt that he should have waited for explicit 
orders from Washington, but no one in Washing- 
ton could possibly know the condition of affairs 
as Captain Fremont knew them. At all events, 
his decision was made. 

Riding rapidly out of camp along the banks of 
the Sacramento, he surprised the Indians, who 
were dressed in war-paint and feathers, and were 
performing their war ceremonies. 

The Indians ran for their lives, jumped into 
the river, and swam for shelter. One Indian camp 
after another was visited, and the river was soon 
thickly dotted with the heads of the escaping 
Indians. 

These Indians had their own farms and homes. 
Their enemies lived both in the mountains and 
the plains. The safest place for them was in their 
own homes. Captain Fremont believed they 
would soon return to these homes, and give no 
more trouble. He accordingly withdrew his men 
to Santa Barbara. 



FREMONT'S WAR 187 

There the ship Portsmouth, commanded by 
Captain Montgomery, was to meet him. About 
this time one of Captain Fremont's men, whom 
he called his field-marshal, came to camp with a 
number of Mexican prisoners, captured at So- 
noma by a party of California settlers. 

Captain Fremont realized fully that he was in a 
strange position. One of the men in his command 
had made prisoners of Mexicans. This would be 
to Mexico a just cause for war with the United 
States. He could show no written orders from his 
government for such an act, but he was proceeding 
as if he had these orders. The naval officers were 
also assisting him. 

He believed that but one honorable course lay 
open for him, and that was to resign his position 
as an officer in the army of the United States. He 
did this at once. 

Another event occurred at this period which 
also had a marked influence upon his course of 
action. A man named Ide had issued a proclama- 
tion, declaring California an independent repub- 
lic. As the new republic must have a flag, he 
made one of a piece of white cloth, on which the 
figure of a grizzly bear was painted with berry 
juice. 



t88 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

This gave the name of the '' Bear Flag War" 
to these fights of Fremont with the Mexicans. 

It was rumored also that all Americans had 
been ordered to leave Sacramento, taking nothing 
with them. Two Americans were murdered. 

This was more than Fremont could endure. He 
could not understand why the United States gov- 
ernment did not send orders for the conduct of its 
officers in California. 

He at once organized an armed party, pro- 
ceeded to the south side of San Francisco Bay, 
captured a fort there, spiked the Spanish guns, 
and quickly returned to camp. Mexican author- 
ity was now at an end in the territory north of 
San Francisco Bay, and as far inland as Sutter's 
Fort. 

Uniting with him some four hundred men who 
promptly elected him their leader, Fremont was 
prepared to defend the ground already taken. 

Word was received from Captain Montgomery 
that an American flag was flying at Monterey, and 
that another had been sent to Sonoma. He asked 
Fremont to raise one at Sutter's Fort. This was 
done with a salute of twenty-one guns, and amid 
the rejoicing of the people. 

The Bear Flag War was over, the Mexican 



FREMONT'S WAR 1 89 

government had lost California, and the United 
States had gained it. 

At length Fremont received orders from Stock- 
ton to proceed to Monterey. This he did. At 
Monterey he embarked with his men for San 
Diego, where he hoped to head off General Cas- 
tro of Mexico, and overthrow his authority in Los 
Angeles. 

Fremont now held the office of major by 
Stockton's appointment, and acted under his 
orders. 

The Mexican officers at San Diego received 
Major Fremont and his men kindly; and the band 
started north toward Los Angeles. They were 
charmed with the wonderful climate. Great or- 
chards of peaches, olives, and pears covered the 
land, as they do to-day. 

At Los Angeles they were met by Stockton, and 
entered the city in fine style. General Castro could 
not be found. He had buried his guns, dispersed 
his men, and fled for safety. 

Scouts were sent out to scour the country, and 
bring in any Mexican officers whom they might 
find. Stockton at once organized a government 
in the name of the United States, and appointed 
Fremont " military governor of the territory." He 



IQO JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

also made the messenger, Gillespie, " command- 
ant of the southern district." 

He then told Major Fremont that he would 
meet him in San Francisco in October, and make 
him governor of California. 

The work Major Fremont had done was highly 
praised by the President, in his annual message, 
as well as by the secretaries of the war and navy 
departments ; but Congress did not recognize his 
work in the same manner. 

Major Fremont now undertook a return march 
to the Sacramento Valley. Not long after his 
departure word came that the people in Los An- 
geles were in rebellion, and Major Fremont waS 
ordered back to reduce them to subjection. 

A day later, at the head of a band of 170 
armed men, Major Fremont embarked on the 
ship Sterling, and sailed for Santa Barbara. From 
that place he was carried on another vessel to San 
Pedro, the port of Los Angeles. This vessel was 
delayed by heavy fogs, but as soon as Major Fre- 
mont was able to land he made great efforts to 
collect horses and supplies, and to enlist a larger 
number of men under his command. 

Several battles, or skirmishes, followed, in 



FREMONT'S WAR 191 

which Major Fremont was successful. But the 
struggle was nearly at an end. 

Through the influence of Bernard Ruiz, a very 
influential and wise woman, the ** capitulation of 
Conenga" was brought about, and by it the war 
was ended in California. 

Orders now came for Fremont to return to 
Washington. He was placed under arrest, charged 
with mutiny, disobedience, and disorder, and com- 
manded to report at once for trial. 

At the close of that trial he was pronounced 
guilty, and sentenced to be dismissed from the 
service. The President, however, revoked the 
sentence, and after reproving him, retained him 
in the army. 

The President's pardon was refused by Fre- 
mont, for he said that if he accepted pardon it 
would look as if he were guilty of the charges 
made. This he would not admit. 

In May, however, he resigned his commission 
in the army of his own accord. This political mis- 
understanding did not overcome Fremont's desire 
for travel and exploration, and in October, 1848, 
he again started for the West. 



192 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

CHAPTER XV 
THE FOURTH EXPEDITION 

Mr. Fremont was now thirty-four years old. 
Inspired by Senator Benton's idea that a railroad 
could and should be built across the Rocky 
Mountains, he undertook to find the best route 
for such an enterprise. In this expedition he had 
no help from the government. 

Up the Arkansas River his company went, just 
as on a previous expedition. They saw the herds 
of buffaloes, elks, and antelope, passed the same 
tribes of Indians, and lived the same kind of life. 
But at the foot of the Rocky Mountains their 
troubles began. 

Mr. Fremont had for a guide a strange man 
called '' Bill Williams." This man had come 
West as a missionary to the Osage Indians. He 
had soon found this work not much to his liking, 
and had built a little hut for himself, where he 
lived alone, hunting and trapping in the moun- 
tains. 

He was friendly with some Indians and a 
dreadful enemy to others. He could ride any 
beast, and must have made a queer figure on horse- 



THE FOURTH EXPEDITION 193 

back, 'Meaning forward upon the pommel with his 
rifle before him, his stirrup ridiculously short, and 
his breeches rubbed up to his knees, leaving his 
legs bare, even in freezing weather." 

He wore a loose monkey-jacket, or a buckskin 
hunting-shirt, and for his head-covering a blanket 
cap, the two top corners drawn up into two wolf- 
ish, satyr-like ears. 

He loved this life, and spent all the money he 
made in drunken sprees. He was said to have 
come into Taos one day with $6,000, the earnings 
of a season's trapping. He spent it all, and left 
town a few days later deep in debt. 

This was the guide whom Mr. Fremont had 
engaged to conduct him over the mountains. 

The party entered the mountains on the 26th 
of November, 1848. Terrible days followed. It 
was so cold that the men's faces and lips were 
badly frozen, while their whiskers and hair stood 
out stiff with frost. 

Snow-covered heights loomed above them; 
mountain streams full of ice roared across their 
path; the drifted snow grew deeper and deeper. 
Many of the mules were frozen, and dropped 
dead beside the trail. 

The men suffered tortures. At the end of 



194 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

three weeks it seemed as though they could not 
endure their sufferings any longer. Working with 
pickaxes, they could only advance half a mile a 
day through the snow and ice. 

When fires were built the heat melted deep 
holes in the snow. Into these holes the men 
would huddle for the night, finding themselves 
covered with snow in the morning. 

They finally decided to turn back. They were 
now living on the frozen bodies of the dead mules. 
When these were gone they made food of the raw- 
hide ropes and leather saddle trappings, cutting 
them up and cooking them to a kind of glue. 

Slowly retreating, they at length reached the 
place on the homeward trail where they had hoped 
to find game. But the game had been driven away 
by the intense cold. 

A small party had been sent ahead for relief. 
This party did not return, and Fremont, with a 
few trusted men, pushed forward to find them, 
ordering the others to follow as they could. 

Sadly the men who were left behind struggled 
on, being obliged sometimes to creep forward on 
their hands and knees. One man prevailed upon 
the others to wait, perfectly still, for three days. 
As they lay almost dead in the snow, near the end 



THE FOURTH EXPEDITION 195 

of the third day, a great shout was heard, and a 
horseman rode into camp with bread in his hands. 

The poor fellows cried like babies, and would 
have torn the man from his horse if they had 
had the strength. But they could not lift their 
hands. 

Others of the rescuing party soon came up. 
They built a fire and cooked some corn meal, 
which they carefully fed to the famished men. 
Then they lifted them upon the horses, and re- 
turned upon their trail to their companions, who 
were waiting below. Twenty-three men were left 
of the thirty-three who had entered the mountains. 

In February they reached the pueblo of Colo- 
rado, where the first small party had already arrived. 
Fremont hastened forward to Taos to arrange for 
another attempt to cross the mountains farther 
south. Four days later the rest of the men started 
for Santa Fe, leaving Williams, the guide, be- 
hind. The next spring he went into the mountains 
to secure the luggage left behind by Fremont's 
party and was killed by the Indians. 

At Taos, Fremont learned of the finding of gold 
in California. His companions had seen traces of 
it several times in their journeys, but had given 
the matter no attention. 



196 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

Fremont had long before this purchased land 
in Mariposa County for a home. There he built 
a rude house, which Mrs. Fremont afterward 
transformed into a delightful home, and there 
he began to plan what more he could do for the 
state he loved. 

He was appointed the first senator from Cali- 
fornia, and presented a large number of bills dur- 
ing the short time he was in Congress. 

Gold had been discovered on his own land in 
Mariposa County, and he and Mrs. Fremont now 
made a trip abroad, hoping to interest people in 
England and France in the development of Cali- 
fornia. He was honored by the queen of England, 
given a medal by the king of Prussia, and a 
Founder's Medal by the Royal Geographical So- 
ciety of Berlin. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE LAST YEARS OF LIFE 

It might be expected that Fremont would have 
been discouraged by the frightful experience of 
his last journey, but he was not. 

In February, 1854, he started once more, de- 



THE LAST YEARS OF LIFE 197 

termined to prove whether it was possible to build 
the railroad so dear to Senator Benton's mind. 

The journey was finally accomplished, and the 
great Santa Fe railroad is now a witness as to the 
thoroughness of the work that was performed. 

Returning to California by the isthmus of 
Panama, the intrepid explorer, who had endured 
so many hardships, fell ill of a fever. After his 
recovery he took up an active outdoor life and 
engaged in cattle-raising. 

The government needed a drove of cattle for 
the Indians. Mr. Fremont promised to supply 
them. Finding no one that could be trusted to 
care for the herd on its long passage across the 
plains, he himself made the journey of three hun- 
dred miles, and delivered the cattle. 

In spite of the trying misunderstandings be- 
tween himself and the government, Fremont's 
fame increased. Books and pamphlets in praise 
of him and his work were published, and in 1856 he 
was chosen by the Republican party as their can- 
didate for the presidency. He stood for **no 
slaves," but the country was not yet ready to sup- 
port this doctrine, and he was defeated by James 
Buchanan. 

A few years later, while again abroad, the Civil 



IqS JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

War broke out, and Fremont was made Com- 
mander of the West. The West included Illinois, 
and all states and territories lying west of the Mis- 
sissippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. 

His headquarters were in St. Louis, which he 
at once fortified. He quickly collected an army, 
many of the men in it being those who had trav- 
eled with him. He lost a battle at Springfield, 
Missouri. He suppressed all newspapers disloyal 
to the government, and assumed to govern Mis- 
souri. 

The government thought a grave error had 
been made at Springfield, and Fremont was re- 
lieved of his command. The particular act which 
caused his relief from command was an emancipa- 
tion proclamation, which he issued in August, 1861. 
This he believed to be a military necessity, and 
when asked by President Lincoln to withdraw the 
order he refused. Thereupon the President re- 
voked the order, and relieved Fremont of his 
command. 

Not long after he was made commander in the 
mountain district of Virginia, Tennessee, and Ken- 
tucky. In 1862 he asked to be relieved, and re- 
turned to his family in New York. 

Two years later he was again mentioned for 



THE LAST YEARS OF LIFE 199 

the presidency, but believing Lincoln to be the 
needed man, he withdrew his name. He was gov- 
ernor of Arizona from 1878 to 1882. 

He died in New York July 13, 1890, at the age 
of seventy-seven years. 

Such was the career of a great explorer, sol- 
dier, scholar, legislator, and public benefactor. 
Men still living recall his dashing bravery, his 
sturdy loyalty to his own opinions, his courageous 
heart, his admirable life. To those who knew him, 
these words of the one who understood him best 
seem but just praise: "He was the knightliest 
soul and the truest gentleman I ever met." 

On account of Fremont's services in opening the 
way across the continent to the Pacific coast, his 
admirers gave him at an early day the significant 
title of ''The Pathfinder." After his failure in 
Missouri and his removal from the command of 
the army in that state, several of his brother 
officers presented him with an elegant sword as a 
testimonial of their regard. On one side of the 
sword this, inscription was engraved: "To the 
Pathfinder, by the Men of the West." 

In the history of our country John C. Fremont 
will continue to be remembered, not for his military 
achievements nor for his political aspirations, but 



200 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

because he was the true pathfinder to the distant 
West, carrying the nation's flag across the great 
mountains and helping to extend our country's 
boundaries to the Pacific coast. 



THE STORY OF 
ELISHA KENT KANE 




ELISHA KENT KANE 



ELISHA KENT KANE 



CHAPTER I 

BOYHOOD 

What kind of boy do you suppose is reqired to 
become a man that can force his way through frozen 
seas, and travel over lands covered with moun- 
tains of ice and snow? He must not be afraid of 
the dark, for in those lands he must live for months 
without seeing daylight. He must not be afraid of 
cold, for he must often sleep out of doors with the 
mercury many degrees below zero, eat frozen food, 
and drink melted snow. He must not be afraid 
of wild animals, for he must hunt foxes and bears 
and seals and walruses. He must not be afraid 
of work, for he must often toil all day and all 
night, with no time to rest. He must not be 
afraid of study, for he must be able to measure 
mountains, calculate distances, observe the stars, 
and write about the heavens and the earth. He 
must not be careless and unkind, for he is respon- 

203 



204 ELISHA KENT KANE 

sible for the lives and spirits of the men in his 
party, even when they are ill and troublesome. 
In short, he must be brave, healthy, industrious, 
and learned, if he would undertake such journeys 
and accomplish them successfully. 

Elisha Kent Kane was just the boy to become 
such a man. Although he was not always so will- 
ing to study as it was thought he should be, and 
although he was not so strong as one could wish, 
still he was so brave and fearless and persistent 
that he did much more when he grew up than 
most men do who have better health. 

He was born February 3, 1820, in Philadelphia, 
and ''went through the diseases and the training 
of infancy vigorously, with that energy of nerve 
and that sort of twill in the muscular texture 
which give tight little fellows more size than they 
measure and more weight than they weigh." 

Elisha Kane was never large nor strong, but 
neither did he allow his smallness of size nor his 
lack of strength to interfere with anything that 
he undertook. He came of ancestors who loved 
their country and sacrificed themselves for it 
without any pay, and he nobly followed their fine 
example. 

He was bold and daring, and always willing to 



BOYHOOD 205 

help any one in trouble, especially his younger 
brothers and sisters. There was no hill too high 
for him to climb, no difficulty too great for him to 
undertake, and no risk too heavy for him to run if 
there was some object to be attained, no matter 
how foolish that object might be. 

One day he made up his mind to climb the 
kitchen chimney. It was sixteen feet high. How 
could he do it? Night came. With his little 
brother Tom, he descended from their bedroom 
window to the kitchen roof. Here he had hidden 
a clothesline with a stone tied at one end. He 
threw the stone again and again, until it fell into 
the chimney and rattled down to the room below. 

Slipping through the skylight into this room, 
he fastened the end of the rope; then he clambered 
back to the roof and gave the slack rope to Tom, 
who was to keep it from swinging out over the 
ground. Up Elisha climbed, with his feet against 
the chimney and his hands clinging to the rope. 
The top of the chimney was touched, but how 
could he get up there? 

He took hold of the edge, but the brick 
loosened in his hand. Throwing his arm over 
into the black chimney, he succeeded in pulling 
himself up, and called out to the boy below, "Oh, 



206 ELISHA KENT KANE 

Tom, what a nice place this is! I'll get down into 
the flue to my waist and pull you up, too. Just 
make a loop in the rope and I'll haul you up. 
Don't be afraid; it is grand up here." 

But Elisha was not quite strong enough for 
that, and Tom never climbed the chimney. I 
wonder if Elisha ever thought of this when years 
afterward he climbed glaciers, threw ropes about 
an iceberg, or dropped into the crater of a vol- 
cano. 

CHAPTER II 

STUDIES MEDICINE 

I am afraid his poor mother had a hard time 
trying to train this wild boy; his teachers certainly 
had. But those were days when the subjects a boy 
was required to study were not always the subjects 
best for him. Elisha made observations of the 
weather and the stars, rode horseback, drew maps 
of the country, secured collections of minerals, 
and worked away at chemistry with all the interest 
in the world. In his spare time he read " Robin- 
son Crusoe" and '* Pilgrim's Progress." 

When Elisha Kane was thirteen years old, his 
father, who was a close student and an elegant 



STUDIES MEDICINE 207 

and accomplished gentleman, said that all this 
nonsense must cease, and that his son must pre- 
pare for college. 

For two or three years the boy made a brave 
effort to study, and then went to Yale College for 
examination. 

He had not been well enough prepared in some 
branches to enter Yale, and was finally taken to 
the University of Virginia, where he could pursue 
the studies he liked best. These studies were 
science and mathematics. 

Here he worked faithfully till he was eighteen, 
when he was taken violently ill, and went home 
expecting to die. His fine constitution carried 
him through, however, and after months of suffer- 
ing he began to recover. 

When his physician told him that he would 
probably never be strong again, he said he had 
"determined to make his mark in the world, and 
to die in the harness." After his illness he seemed 
to have lost his trying habits and characteristics, 
and he became "sedate, earnest, calm, and gentle." 

As soon as his strength returned he began the 
study of medicine, and when only nineteen was 
hard at work in a hospital. There he made a 
brilliant record, and led his class; but at his 



2o8 ELISHA KENT KANE 

father's wish he soon afterward entered the navy 
as surgeon, and was sent at once to China. This 
was in 1843, when Mr. Fremont was in the midst 
of his discoveries and explorations in the Far 
West. 

Dr. Kane was always seasick on shipboard, but 
he studied just as hard as if he were well, and 
when the ship touched at any port he was up and 
away, scouring the country in every direction and 
learning about the people and their customs. His 
ship companions said that by the time they were 
ready to start out for a bit of sight-seeing he was 
usually on his way back to the ship. 

He hunted elephants in Ceylon, explored the 
cave temples of Bombay, traveled extensively in 
China, and made a close study of the Philippine 
Islands. 

An interesting story is told of his descent into 
the crater of a great volcano. He and Baron Loe 
started together, but the baron became alarmed, 
gave up the plan, and did his best to persuade 
Dr. Kane to do the same. Even the servants ob- 
jected; but they finally gathered some bamboo 
sticks and made a kind of rope by which they let 
Dr. Kane over a precipice into the crater. Down 
he slid two hundred feet, and then unfastening 



STUDIES MEDICINE 209 

the bamboo rope, clambered still lower to the 
smoking lake at the bottom. He filled some bot- 
tles with the bubbling liquid and then he tried to 
scramble back. But this was hard work, for the 
burning ashes slipped from under his feet, and the 
fumes of sulphur alpiost strangled him. His shoes 
were burned off, and he had barely strength to 
fasten the rope about his waist and give the signal 
to the men above. When he was drawn out the 
men found that he had fainted. 

The natives said he had angered the god of 
the volcano, who was punishing him, and they 
undertook to complete this punishment by trying 
to kill him. A stray shot or two from Dr. Kane's 
revolver made them decide to leave the matter to 
the god of the volcano to settle. 

Fifteen months after leaving home the ship on 
which Dr. Kane had sailed returned to America, 
but the young physician was not on board. He 
had decided to stay in China until he had earned 
enough money by his profession to travel exten- 
sively. 

Six months later he was very sick with a fever, 
and when he recovered he felt obliged to start for 
home. Traveling with an invalid friend, he pro- 
ceeded slowly to Singapore, across the Bay of 



2IO ELISHA KENT KANE 

Bengal to Ceylon, and thence to the Indian Pe- 
ninsula. For months the two companions toured 
in India, climbing mountains and making friends 
with the native princes. 

With his friend's consent. Dr. Kane finally 
joined the suite of an Indian prince, who was 
about to make a visit to Queen Victoria. They 
traveled together as far as Alexandria, but in 
April, 1845, Dr. Kane said good-by to the prince, 
who went to England alone, while the doctor made 
a journey up the Nile, with a little American flag 
at the head of his boat. 



CHAPTER III 

IN FOREIGN LANDS 

We know very little about these months of 
Egyptian travel, for Dr. Kane left few notes. In 
a letter he says: '' My Thebes life is a very wild 
one. I am in native dress, with a beard so long 
that I have to tuck it in. My lodging is on the 
hot ground, and I walk on an average twenty-six 
miles a day." 

One night he lay down to sleep on the sand. 
His boat was drawn up beside him, and his ser- 



IN FOREIGN LANDS 211 

vant was lying on top of the boat with the trunks 
and baggage. When Dr. Kane awoke, every- 
thing was gone. He thought a quicksand had 
swallowed up his outfit, but when he found the 
boat two miles down the river, and discovered his 
watch chain around the neck of a man who was 
carrying him ashore, he changed his mind, ducked 
the thief in the water, and after a hard fight 
secured the watch and chain. 

Although he had lost nearly everything he 
owned, Dr. Kane did not leave Egypt, but con- 
tinued his journey. One day he decided to climb 
the sitting statue of Memnon. This statue was 
many times as high as the old kitchen chimney, 
but he started up, determined to see what was in- 
scribed on the tablet that lies on the knees of 
the statue. 

The only way he could reach this tablet was 
by climbing up one leg of the statue, bracing his 
back or neck against the other leg. When he 
reached the tablet, he could not climb upon it, 
neither could he climb down. There he hung, 
back down, till an Arab horseman galloped over 
the sand and found a guide who knew the way up 
the back of the statue. A little later the Arab's 
dangling sash swung out over the edge of the 



212 ELISHA KENT KANE 

tablet. Dr. Kane caught the end of the sash, let 
himself drop, swung out into the air, and was 
pulled safely up by the guide. He then walked 
quietly down by the usual way. 

Soon after this adventure he went to Greece, 
where he walked from one interesting ruin to 
another, growing stronger slowly, until he had 
explored Greece from one end to the other. 
Thence he crossed the Adriatic Sea to Trieste, 
and passed on to Germany and Switzerland. 

He seemed to find the ice and glaciers of the 
Alps most interesting. He examined them so 
carefully that the records which he made of his 
observations proved to be genuine additions to 
scientific knowledge. 

We next find him in Paris, where he tried to 
secure a license from Spain to go to the island of 
Luzon, in the Philippines, and practice his pro- 
fession. Spain would not give him this license, 
and he soon passed over into Italy, through 
France to England, and finally home to America. 

A few months later, when our war with Mexico 
was beginning. Dr. Kane begged to be sent there 
for active service; but much to his disappointment, 
he was ordered to Africa instead. 

On the 25th of May, 1846, he sailed away to 



IN MEXICO 213 

make a study of the conditions of slavery In Africa. 
He visited the king of Dahomey In his own king- 
dom. This Dahomeyan king had a courtyard 
covered with the skulls of the men he had killed 
with his saber. He offered to kill a few subjects 
to entertain his visitor, but Dr. Kane persuaded 
him not to do this. He concluded from what he 
saw that perhaps the slave trade did not seem so 
dreadful to these poor creatures as It did to him. 
On his way back to America, Dr. Kane fell 
severely ill of coast fever. He was sent directly 
to his home, where he struggled back to life, 
though he never fully recovered from the effects 
of his journey to the hot, unhealthful African 
coast. 



CHAPTER IV 

IN MEXICO 

Dr. Kane was very much in earnest about go- 
ing to Mexico. As soon as he was able to travel, 
he hurried to Washington to ask again to be sent 
out in the Mexican service. There he was again 
taken sick, but on his recovery his earnest wish 
was rewarded, and he was sent to Mexico. 



214 ELISHA KENT KANE 

He carried important dispatches, and was 
directed to visit and report upon the hospital ser- 
vice in the United States Army stationed in 
Mexico. 

In November he left Philadelphia, taking with 
him a beautiful Kentucky horse. From New 
Orleans the steamer ''Fashion" carried him to 
Vera Cruz, but not without danger, for in a heavy 
storm the ship seemed breaking in pieces. There 
were many horses on board, and one by one they 
were backed into the ocean; but Dr. Kane's fa- 
vorite horse was spared. 

The storm grew heavier; all hands were bail- 
ing out water with camp kettles, for the pumps 
were broken. Then unexpectedly the ship was 
driven into port, and the crew experienced what 
seemed to be a miraculous escape. 

A regiment was leaving Vera Cruz for the city 
of Mexico, and Dr. Kane joined it; but at an in- 
land town he decided to join a '' renegade spy 
company," and to proceed with them, thinking 
thus to arrive more quickly. 

While he was in this questionable company, 
the party came suddenly upon a band of Mexican 
guerrillas, accompanied by several generals and 
men of note. In the battle which followed. Dr. 



IN MEXICO 215 

Kane was the leading spirit. His party was vic- 
torious, but the men, who were almost savages, 
set upon and were killing their prisoners. Kane 
interfered and ordered them to stop, enforcing 
his orders with his six-shooter. The prisoners 
were spared, and frankly said they owed their 
lives to Dr. Kane. 

The gallant Kentucky horse had been killed in 
the fight, and Dr. Kane himself was severely 
wounded. Forgetting his own sufferings, he helped 
those who were wounded till he fell in a faint. He 
was carried to the home of a Mexican general, 
whose son's life he had just saved by a surgical 
operation. There he was tenderly cared for by 
the general's own family, and Dr. Kane in turn 
owed his life to them. 

Weak and useless, he was ordered home, and 
his transportation papers were made out; but he 
refused to go, saying: '' Mexico I will not leave 
until I can do so clearly — until the armistice is 
more definite or peace is more prospective." 

The armistice was arranged and he was finally 
persuaded to go home. He writes: ''My leave is 
but for three weeks; my object a surgical opera- 
tion; my health such as to require all the kindly 
care of the home to which I again return, a broken- 



2l6 ELISHA KENT KANE 

down man. My hair would be gray but that I 
have no hair. My hopes would be particularly 
small but that I have no hopes." 



CHAPTER V 

SENT TO THE ARCTIC SEAS 

In 1849 Dr. Kane made a voyage to Lisbon 
and Rio Janeiro, from which he returned, ill and 
emaciated, to a quiet station on Mobile Bay in 
Alabama. Here, by the shores of the Gulf of 
Mexico, he was growing strong and doing some 
surveying for the government, when one day a 
short, sharp summons came from Washington — a 
telegram which read, " Proceed at once to New 
York for duty on the Arctic expedition." 

Without delay he thrust his belongings into a 
satchel, and hastened to New York by the quick- 
est route. After a few hours of preparation in 
that city he embarked and was soon on his way to 
Polar waters. 

Why was he going? 

One of the most daring and successful of Arctic 
explorers had been Sir John Franklin. He had 
made four voyages in search of the North Pole — 



^^0^^^T>. 







SIR JOHN FRANKLIN 



2i8 ELISHA KENT KANE 

the first in 1818, the second in 1819, the third in 
1825, and the fourth in 1845. Since 1845 nothing 
had been heard from him, although fifteen differ- 
ent expeditions had been sent from England to 
search for the missing men and ships. Poor Lady 
Franklin had begged her own countrymen as well 
as Americans to go once more to his relief. Henry 
Grinnell, of New York, offered to furnish two 
small brigs for such a search if men could be found 
to undertake the journey. The Secretary of the 
Navy detailed men in the service, with instruments 
and rations for a three years' cruise. Lieutenant 
De Haven was put in charge, and Dr. Kane was 
appointed surgeon. 

On the 22d of May, 1850, the poor-looking 
little vessels, the ''Advance" and the ''Rescue," 
sailed out of New York Bay. Although small 
and rather low, they proved to be well fitted for 
their work; for ships that must hammer their 
way through fields of ice and underneath huge 
overhanging icebergs must be small, but strong. 

These vessels were built double, like one boat 
inside another, while the hull was wedge-shaped. 
The hull was built in this shape so that when 
"nipped" by the ice it would be lifted, and not 
crushed. The decks were double, and packed be- 





HENRY GRINNELL 



220 ELISHA KENT KANE 

tween with tarred felt. The inside was lined with 
cork, which made it dry and warm. Extra beams 
in all directions braced the sides, and the rudder 
was so built that it could be taken off if the ice 
became too troublesome. A great funnel was put 
about the stovepipe in the cabin, so that snow 
could be melted for water. There were also a 
blacksmith's forge, stoves, and extra boats on 
board. All these things had been furnished by 
Mr. Grinnell. 

The government supplied the guns, ammuni- 
tion, and instruments, and these, I am sorry to 
say, were very poor. The guns were old-fashioned 
and out of order, and the instruments were by no 
means the best. 

The men, twenty-three in number, were not 
well, nor had they had experience in such travel; 
but they proved willing and true. 

When these little vessels sailed out of New 
York harbor there was no government salute, but 
the wharves and the rigging of the ships at 
anchor were black with people who cheered them- 
selves hoarse to honor these men who were risk- 
ing their lives for the sake of others. Mr. Grin- 
nell and his sons, on a fine pilot boat, kept them 
company till the next day, when they hoisted a 



SENT TO THE ARCTIC SEAS 221 

white flag, signaled good-by, and returned to 
New York. 

After their friends were gone, all hands turned 
in to arrange the small cabins. Each man had a 
berth to himself. This was a space six feet long 
by three feet wide and three feet high. Into such 
a space Dr. Kane crawled with a box of tacks and 
some India-rubber cloth. He covered the inside 
of his berth with the cloth to keep out the wet, 
and spread his Astrachan fur cloak with some 
other skins on the bottom for a bed. He hung 
his watch on one nail, his ink bottle on another, 
and a thermometer on a third. He put up two 
little shelves for his books, while his tooth-brush, 
comb, and hair-brush were hung from a string. 
At the head of the berth was a shelf with a lamp 
on it. These quarters were to be his home for 
fifteen months. 

When the work was all done, he said: ''I crawled 
in from the wet and cold through a slit in the India- 
rubber cloth, and it would be hard for any one to 
realize the quantity of comfort which I felt I had 
manufactured." The lamp was bright, the furs 
were warm, and he was at home. 



222 ELISHA KENT KANE 

CHAPTER VI 

IN THE POLAR REGIONS 

Now, though Dr. Kane says nothing about it, 
he was really very ill, and when the brigs reached 
Greenland Lieutenant De Haven tried to send 
him home; but the doctor flatly refused to be 
sent. He was full of excitement and enthusiasm. 
Icebergs as large as great buildings began to loom 
up on all sides, whales were seen, and soon Green- 
land, a country without a sign of green, but cov- 
ered with ice and snow, lay full in sight. 

They were now so far north that the sun was 
above the horizon from two in the morning till 
ten at night, and the men found it very hard to 
go to sleep. By June 24th there was no night at 
all. The sun did not drop below the horizon, 
though the days were not always bright. There 
were fogs and pale sunshine and cold drizzling rain, 
while icebergs sparkling in the sun or lying deep 
in shadow were their constant companions. 

It was hard to keep up the regular routine of 
the ship's work, but the commander knew that 
it must be done. The men were called early in 
the morning, and washed themselves in their ''one 



IN THE POLAR REGIONS 223 

tin wash-basin." After breakfast they worked, 
and played games; after dinner they went for a 
walk or a hunt over the ice; after supper they 
went to bed as regularly as at home. 

Their first stop was made at the Crown Prince 
Islands. It was raining. The harbor was guarded 
on both sides by huge rocks covered with ice, 
down which trickled streams of water. There were 
no trees nor houses nor people in sight. Presently 
they saw a poor old building, and a ''something 
like a large Newfoundland dog moving rapidly 
through the wat^r." This ''something" was a 
Greenlander in a kayak, which is a queer boat 
built in a curious way. A framework like a canoe 
is covered with skins, top and sides and bottom. 
A small hole is left in the middle, around which 
is a stiff rim. The Greenlander sits down in this 
opening and pulls the bottom of his sealskin 
jumper (which is water-tight at neck and wrist) 
over the stiff rim. In this way he is really sitting 
in a tight skin bag, so built that it rides the water 
like a cork. 

The Greenlanders love these strange little 
boats, and do wonderful things in them. As long 
as a rock or a piece of ice does not cut the skin, 
nothing can harm the fisherman; but a very small 



224 



ELISHA KENT KANE 



hole will send him to instant death, and such 
deaths are not uncommon. 

Soon crowds of these boats were bobbing after 
the ships, sometimes under water, sometimes 



^ 




AN ESKIMO AND HIS HUT 



above it, and rapidly propelled by a short, double- 
headed oar. After a little the people on shore 
were seen; there were forty of them crowded to- 
gether, noisy, dirty, and shouting with excitement. 
The rocks were covered with pieces of meat, 



IN THE POLAR REGIONS 225 

Spread out to dry in the sun, and everything was 
coated with grease and filth. 

Near by were the Eskimo huts. These huts 
are all built much alike. Large pieces of rock or 
turf or ice form the sides, while bones are used to 
hold up a roof of the same materials. A little 
square hole is cut for a window, and the opening 
is covered with the thin intestine of a seal, for the 
Eskimos have no glass. The entrance is made 
through a kind of tunnel several feet long, but 
only large enough for one person at a time to 
crawl through on hands and knees. The opening 
to this tunnel is covered with heavy skins. 

The first thing one would see, when once in- 
side, would probably be a pile of blocks of ice, to 
be melted for drinking water. A raised platform 
runs around the wall, and on this platform is the 
lamp which is used for heating and cooking. On 
this same platform the entire family piles itself up 
to sleep or eat. On one such platform, in a hut 
six by eight feet square, Dr. Kane found a 
*' father, mother, grandfather, four children, a tea- 
kettle, box, two rifles, and a litter of puppies." 

The Eskimos have a few bone dishes with a 
stone bowl for melting snow, and a bowl or two of 
sealskin, which are used for all purposes and never 



226 ELISHA KENT KANE 

washed. The walls are usually dripping wet, 
black with smoke and grease, and covered with 
mold. Here the women tend the smoking lamps, 
make the skin clothes, and do the cooking. 

Much of their food is eaten raw, for the men 
do not go out on the hunt until they are nearly 
starved; and when the food is brought in no one 
waits for it to be cooked. All the family sit down 
on the ground, and cutting strips from the frozen 
seal or walrus, throw back their heads, swallow as 
much as they can at one time, and cut off the end 
close to the mouth; then they cut off another strip 
and devour that. The babies have their own 
knives, and eat as long as the older people. The 
men often eat as much as eight or ten pounds of 
meat at a time, then roll over and go to sleep, 
waking only to reach out for more meat, and then 
to go to sleep again. 

Their sandwiches are made of two slices of 
frozen seal meat with a chunk of blubber be- 
tween. Sometimes they have birds to eat. The 
hunter goes out with a net fastened to a long pole, 
and lying on the ground easily nets the birds. 
Then he bites their heads to kill them, or links 
their wings together if he wishes to keep them 
alive, and throws them into a bag made of his 



FAST IN THE ICE 227 

skin jumper with its sleeves tied together. These 
birds are afterwards cut open and frozen, or left 
lying in a heap, to be used when wanted. Dr. Kane 
says he once heard an Eskimo baby cry out in the 
night that it was cold. The mother sat up, reached 
out and picked up a couple of birds, killed and 
skinned them, and drew the warm skins over the 
baby's cold feet. 



CHAPTER VII 
FAST IN THE ICE 

All this time we have left Lieutenant De Haven 
at anchor at the Crown Prince Islands, although 
he was eager to get away. He had heard of the 
passing of some English vessels, bound on the 
same errand as his own, and longed to be moving 
toward the north. He bought all the furs he 
could, and sent Dr. Kane to Lievely for more, 
while he awaited the arrival of the companion 
brig, the '* Rescue." 

Dr. Kane made his trip in a small boat through 
water so clear that wonderful growths of seaweed 
could be seen far below. At Lievely he went to 
the quaint home of the ''Royal Inspector of the 



228 ELISHA KENT KANE 

Northern Portions of Davis Straits." This man 
was well educated, but lived a very hard life in 
that torbidding place. It was his business to go 
from one poor group of Eskimo huts to an- 
other, on a sledge drawn by dogs. He must pre- 
serve peace among the natives, collect furs, and 
keep all reminded that they were subjects of the 
Danish government. 

The Royal Inspector and his assistant not only 
received Dr. Kane most kindly, but almost robbed 
themselves to supply his needs. The furs bought 
here were made into Eskimo suits for the men. 
Each suit consisted of a pair of boots and a 
"jumper." The boots were without seams, and 
reached above the hips. The jumper was a fur 
shirt made with a hood, and reached below the 
tops of the boots. 

When the ''Advance" and ''Rescue" left 
the Crown Prince Islands they were well equipped 
for their hard work in the ice-fields. As the little 
vessels scudded out of the harbor the men laughed 
to think how carefully they had avoided each bit 
of ice on their way up from New York. Now, in- 
deed, there was ice to be avoided — great floating 
fields of it, surging and thrashing about them, and 
tossing huge masses of slush and great cakes of 



FAST IN THE ICE 229 

ice upon greater masses beneath, while icebergs, 
like towered castles, floated slowly by. 

The noise and tumult of the floating ice were 
deafening and terrible, not at all the quiet place 
one would imagine a sea of ice to be. The ice- 
bergs crowded past more and more thickly, and 
while the people of New York were sending up 
their Fourth-of-July skyrockets, and trying to 
cool themselves with ice cream, the little vessels 
were surrounded by two hundred and forty ice- 
bergs, and the crews had no fear of sunstroke. 

Day by day the explorers cruised along at the 
edge of this frozen sea, breaking through the long 
tongues of ice that ran out into the clear water, 
and always keeping the vessels headed north. But 
before long they were not skirting along the edge 
of the ice, but were entirely surrounded by it. The 
stout little vessels were bumped and whirled and 
lifted and dropped and forced backward and 
plunged forward by the great masses of ice. 

They kept their noses pointed through the 
slush and floating chunks, persistently breaking 
through the young ice as it formed. But one 
morning, in spite of all their efforts. Dr. Kane was 
forced to write in his journal: '' Fast! Around us a 
circle of snow-covered ice streaked with puddles 



230 ELISHA KENT KANE 

of dark water, and varied by the very distant loom- 
ing of some icebergs. In the center of this drear- 
iness are the two vessels, the 'Advance' and the 
' Rescue.' " 

Lieutenant De Haven hoped he could bore his 
way out, and the man aloft kept anxious watch for 
openings, or 'Meads," in the field of ice. As soon 
as one appeared, the boat would be headed toward 
it, while every one held his breath. " De Haven 
shouts, ' Hard-a-starboard! ' The brig urges her 
nose into a sudden indentation and bangs her 
quarter against a big lump of swashing ice. 
'Steady there!' — a second yell — 'Down, down! 
Hard down!' And then we rub and scrape and 
jam and thrust aside and are thrust aside." They 
manage to enter the crack, or " lead," when sud- 
denly they find the open space growing very nar- 
row. There are quick orders shouted, " ' Helm-a- 
starboard! Port! Easy! So! Steadie-ee-ee! Hard- 
a-port, hard, hard, hard!' (Scrape, scratch, thump.) 
And we are jammed fast between two great ice- 
fields of unknown extent." Nothing can be done, 
and so the captain comes down and the crew goes 
to supper. 

Sometimes they tried to use the boat as a 
wedge. Men were sent, leaping over the ice, to 



BEARS AND WALRUSES 231 

place an anchor, adjust the ropes, and with a 
hearty pull force the boat farther into the narrow- 
crack. Sometimes the crack opened, and the 
boats would advance a few feet, drawn by the will- 
ing men; but their efforts were useless. At the 
end of three weeks they had advanced only a few 
feet, and were slowly swinging about in the great 
ice-pack, helpless and motionless. 



CHAPTER VIII 

BEARS AND WALRUSES 

As the vessels lay imprisoned in the ice, the men 
began to think of hunting. Seals were sometimes 
seen, and the men tried hard to catch them. These 
strange animals looked so much like Eskimos 
that the men could hardly tell them apart. The 
natives hunted them in a queer way, and by watch- 
ing them, the white men soon learned how they 
did it. They would crouch down behind a screen 
made of skin or cloth, and creep along over the 
ice until near enough to shoot the animal before 
he knew an enemy was in sight. 

The yellowish white polar bears stalked majes- 
tically across the ice, dragging their great feet in 



232 



ELISHA KENT KANE 



a slow and heavy swing. Often these huge fel- 
lows came close up to the vessel, because they did 
not know enough to be afraid. The men would 
rush below for their guns, shouting, " Bear, bear!" 




SHOOTING SEALS 

But one or two shots had no effect, and the great 
bears would lumber off unhurt. 

These bears became very annoying, for they 
would break up the caches which the men had 
carefully built. The caches were made by piling 
kegs and cans of meat, coffee, and other supplies 



BEARS AND WALRUSES 



23. 



on the ice. Large stones and blocks of ice were 
heaped over them, and water poured over all to 
freeze and make a solid hill of preserved food. 
The bears would find these caches, tear them 




ESKIMO HUNTING THE POLAR BEAR 



to pieces, smash the kegs and cans, and eat up the 
food. They did not like salt meat, but cleared 
up all the coffee, swallowed the American flag, 
chewed the rubber cloth, and tied it full of knots, 
played foot-ball with the kegs, and added insult to 
injury by sliding down the hill on their haunches. 



234 ELISHA KENT KANE 

One old mother bear led the men and dogs a 
long chase. The dogs were worrying her, snapping 
at her heels and jumping at her head. She would 
catch up her baby, which was with her, throw it 
ahead of her on the ice, face the dogs, and fight 
them off until she backed up to where the cub lay; 
then she would pick it up, throw it ahead again, 
and so proceed until she had led the dogs a long 
way from the hunters. But the baby grew tired. 
Then the old mother bear reared herself up on 
her hind legs, put the baby bear between them, 
and began to growl, showing her teeth, and strik- 
ing furiously at the dogs with her front paws. 
When the hunters caught up with the bear they 
shot her dead. Then the baby bear jumped up 
on the mother's body and put up a grand fight for 
its own life, but was finally shot and killed, cached, 
and left until the men could return. 

The polar bears are terrible fighters, and as 
hard to kill as the grizzly bear. Their meat when 
cooked tastes as if soaked in lamp oil. 

Sometimes the explorers killed a walrus. These 
great animals always had one of their number act as 
a sentinel while the rest slept. Sometimes a mother 
walrus would be seen with her two babies. If the 
men tried to kill them the mother walrus would 



BEARS AND WALRUSES 



235 



catch up her babies, throw them into the water, 
jump in after them, catch them in her arms, and 
dive out of sight. 

Walruses are very dangerous animals. Some- 




HUNTING THE WALRUS 



times they attack a boat full of men. A story is 
told of such a fight. Just as the men were afraid 
the walruses had beaten them, one walrus put his 
head over the side of the boat. A man shoved his 
rifle into his throat and fired. The great animal 



236 ELISHA KENT KANE 

fell back dead, and the walrus's comrades carried 
him away on their tusks. 

An Eskimo hunter must be very strong and 
active to capture such huge beasts. He creeps up 
on the ice until near enough to hurl a harpoon 
into his body. A strong walrus-skin rope is fas- 
tened to the harpoon. The walrus plunges into 
the water, but he cannot get away, for the rope 
holds him fast. Slowly drawing in the rope as 
the beast gives him a chance, the hunter at length 
gets near enough to deal the death-blow. Then 
the body is divided among all the hunters, the one 
who killed the walrus getting the best cuts. 



CHAPTER IX 

TRACES OF FRANKLIN 

All this while our friends have been fast in the 
ice, doing their best to occupy the time with 
hunts and games, with races and hard work, until 
one joyful day in July the ice suddenly opened, 
and the ships were once more afloat. They passed 
near cliffs of red snow. One man dug down for 
several feet into this strange snow, and found it 
always the same dull deep red. Dr. Kane exam- 



TRACES OF FRANKLIN 237 

ined some which was red to the depth of about 
eight inches. 

Of course, there were no large trees or shrubs 
as we know them, but only poor, crawling, scrag- 
gly things lying close to the rocks. There were 
trees no higher than one's shoes, but perfect in 
form. Vines which at home grew large enough 
to cover a porch, here were only large enough for 
a buttonhole, while willow trees were the size of 
a clover. 

The Arctic summer was fast slipping away, and 
our explorers had found no sign of Dr. Franklin's 
party, although they had kept up an earnest 
search. One day they came in sight of a cairn 
on the land with a flagstaff placed above it. An 
English vessel which had passed them had found 
sure traces of Franklin's party, and the excite- 
ment was intense. 

Quickly landing, the explorers found signs of a 
camping place of a large party. There were bits 
of cloth and painted wood, and traces of camp fires 
where pieces of bone would seem to show that 
something had been cooked. These were slight 
traces and very discouraging, for there was no mes- 
sage nor sign of where the travelers had gone. 

Just at this time they found that Captain 



238 ELISHA KENT KANE 

Penny, commander of one of the English vessels, 
had made a most important discovery. A short 
distance from the first camp his men had found a 
tin can stamped with the name of the London 
manufacturer who had put up food for Franklin's 
party. Then there was a scrap of a newspaper 
with the date 1845 upon it. There were other 
bits of paper also, on one of which was the name 
of one of Franklin's officers. A scrap of a stocking 
and a pocket from an English officer's coat were 
also found. It looked as if there might have been 
a shipwreck, or as if a party were moving slowly 
along. Strangely enough, five of the vessels car- 
rying search parties were now collected in this one 
spot eagerly examining the ice in all directions. 

The officers were earnestly consulting and mak- 
ing plans for a systematic search, when a man 
came rushing over the ice shouting, '' Graves, 
Captain Penny! graves! graves! Franklin's winter 
quarters!" 

Everybody rushed over the rough, crumbling 
ice. A hard scramble of several miles brought 
them in sight of three boards shaped like grave- 
stones standing at the head of three graves. On 
the boards were cut the names and ages of the 
men who had died. Near by were bits of iron 



TRACES OF FRANKLIN 239 

and nails, and a piece of wood which had been 
used for an anvil. Not far away were more than 
six hundred meat cans filled with stones. There 
were all kinds of pieces of rope, matches, cloth, 
wood, iron, clothing, and paper. They even 
found traces of a sledge, and near by, a little 
Arctic garden. There was no sign of where the 
party had gone or of what was their condition. 
This baffling silence was almost harder to bear 
than if nothing at all had been discovered. 

Two more English vessels soon joined them, 
and one' notable day there were eight different 
expeditions collected at this one point, all bent on 
the same humane errand. What seems still more 
strange is, that after going their separate ways 
these eight vessels met again three weeks later, 
although they had not seen each other in the 
mean time, and had been buffeted by ice and 
beaten by storms for many days. 

It was now late in September, and Lieutenant 
De Haven feeling that the season's work must 
close, and having had orders not to remain in the 
Arctic regions if it could be avoided, now headed 
for home. Days of awful struggle and exposure 
followed. Flung about by gales, hurled high by 
plunging ice-floats, scudding before the wind, or 



240 ELISHA KENT KANE 

being towed more slowly by some huge iceberg, 
the explorers passed many anxious days. Once 
it seemed as if their fate was sealed; the vessels 
were fast in the ice. After days of waiting, sup- 
plies were transferred to the ice and plans formed 
for winter quarters. Suddenly, with a deafening 
crash, the ice broke away, and they were afloat, 
leaving part of their stores behind them on the 
ice. 

Again they were fast in a great cake of ice, 
drifting helplessly among tumbling mountains of 
water and slush, which pitched the ships in every 
direction, lifting them bodily from the water, 
packing huge cakes of ice beneath them, then 
suddenly sliding them back into the churning 
water. This terrible strain lasted more than two 
months, when they were finally forced to admit 
that they must remain where they were till the 
next September. 

Slowly and sadly they put the ''Advance " into 
winter trim. A heavy jacket of felt was drawn 
over the deck, covering it as closely as possible 
from the cold. Each man's baggage was packed, 
so that in case the ships should be crushed all 
hands could escape, carrying their most precious 
belongings with them. 



TRACES OF FRANKLIN 24I 

There were strange, dull exhibitions of the 
aurora borealis, which was all they had to lighten 
the dreadful darkness of the Arctic winter. The 
cold grew more intense. The water casks in the 
cabin froze up, a cup of water froze solid in five 
minutes; everything they touched burned the bare 
hand like hot iron. The hatchway was so full of 
icicles that a new entrance had to be made to the 
cabin. 

Wrought iron became as brittle as glass, dried 
apples froze solid in the barrels, and were chopped 
up, barrel and all, and carried down below. The 
sugar had to be sawed up into chunks; butter was 
cut with a chisel and mallet; the meat was 
mined with a crowbar; and a barrel of oil, from 
which the barrel had been broken, stood all winter, 
a yellow, cylindrical mass. The meat as it came 
from the cans could have been used for cannon 
balls. 

If they wished an ice for dessert after a meal of 
these delightful things, they poured a little boiling 
water over some cranberries and sugar and butter, 
and it was ready. To be sure, the spoon froze to 
their mouths, unless they were careful, and took 
away the skin as part of the second spoonful. Out 
of doors one's breath looked as if a pistol had 



242 ELISHA KENT KANE 

been fired from his mouth; icicles hung from the 
men's mustaches; if they talked, their tongues 
froze to their lips. Sometimes their eyes froze 
shut; and if they touched their faces with their 
gloves, a knife was needed to cut them loose again. 



CHAPTER X 

WINTER IN THE ICE 

And so the slow, dark months dragged by. The 
men grew deadly white. Some were ill, then more 
were ill, and finally all were ill. The doctor worked 
continuously. The men tried hard to fight down 
disease, and to keep up courage, but this was a 
hard thing to do when they were drifting helplessly 
in ice, no one knew where. 

Dr. Kane says that when the bell rang to get 
up, for there was no morning, he would sit up and 
drink a glass of water, " eyes and nose and 
mouth chippy with lampblack." Next he bathed 
himself in snow slush, and rubbed himself dry 
with a hard towel. After that he put on his queer 
fur clothes, and ate a breakfast of griddle cakes 
and mackerel. Then followed a climb over the 



WINTER IN THE ICE 243 

ice and snow, a little study, a game of football, or 
a hunt. 

After dinner the men sometimes washed their 
bedding in pulverized snow, and passed the dread- 
ful afternoon in the horrid-smelling cabin, and 
then turned in for the night. 

These months of darkness were only a struggle 
to keep alive, and as free as possible from the 
loathsome illnesses which poor food and no day- 
light bring to men. Sometimes there were plays 
given in the long hours after dinner. The deck 
was the theater, and kegs were the opera chairs. 
The theater was not a warm one, for the ther- 
mometer often ranged from six to forty-six degrees 
below zero. 

Of course the men took all the different parts, 
and it was very amusing to see a great six-foot 
man act the part of a delicate young girl. With 
his long whiskers and heavy boots, and singing a 
song in a deep bass voice, and in an Irish brogue, 
he made a very queer-appearing girl. The per- 
formers moved in a mist so thick that the audience 
could scarcely see them. Their hands steamed 
and their breath came in clouds. If one took off 
his hat, '' his head smoked like a dish of pota- 
toes." 



244 ELISHA KENT KANE 

They tried to be very merry on Christmas with 
such a play, using a jew's-harp for an orchestra, and 
giving each other cakes of soap for Christmas 
gifts. Old songs and older stories served to keep 
the dinner table in a roar. 

The year 1850 closed with a shout of joy from 
the men, for at noonday it was light enough out 
of doors to read large print. Early in March there 
came a break in the ice, which gave a glimpse of 
hope to all the men. Even the sick men more will- 
ingly swallowed the doses of oil and lime juice, or 
scraped raw potatoes and sauer-kraut mixed with 
molasses, for there was now some inducement to 
wish to live. 

The ice soon began to grumble with noises like 
" the grating of nutmegs or humming of bees or 
yapping of puppies." These were sure signs of 
the breaking up which must soon follow. 

In April the weather seemed warm at zero; 
the felt covering was stripped from the brig, the 
smoky lamps were cleaned, the cabin opened 
to the light of day, and the lampblack-covered 
clothes hung out to air. The frozen blankets 
were thawed and dried, and the blessed daylight 
allowed to fill every corner of the reeking cabin. 
The men fell gayly to work making new sealskin 



OFF FOR HOME 245 

clothes and snow-goggles, for the daylight had 
brought a new trouble — snow-blindness. These 
goggles were round pieces of wood with narrow 
slits cut in them, and served their purpose better 
than glass goggles. 



CHAPTER XI 

OFF FOR HOME 

All through the winter the little brig *' Rescue 
had been ice-bound only a few feet from the ''Ad- 
vance." Her officers had, however, lived on board 
the "Advance," because the smaller vessel was in 
greater danger of being crushed by the ice. In 
June there was a joyful shout: ''Ice cracking 
ahead!" The "Rescue's" officers leaped from 
the "Advance," sprang across a narrow crack (a 
ribbon of water which was almost instantly a 
river), shouting: "Stick by the floe; good-by; 
what news for home?" And they were off. 

All was confusion, the ice was splitting in all 
directions, the noise was deafening. At length 
the "Advance" was free, except for a great piece 
of ice almost as large as herself which stuck to 
her stern. A few days later she was freed from 



246 ELISHA KENT KANE 

this burden, and started at once in the track of 
the " Rescue," headed for the settlements of 
Greenland. 

Although the voyage was far from easy, they 
finally landed at Proven. The Danish governor 
and his family gave them a hearty welcome. The 
governor s family, as well as four generations of 
his wife's family, lived in a one-roomed house, 
15 by 16 feet in size. The ceiling was just high 
enough to allow a man to stand erect. The room 
was furnished much like the Eskimo huts. A 
shelf was built around the wall, and on it dogs, 
people, babies, birds, dishes, clothes, and food 
were heaped together, without any regard to 
order. In spite of this the family were happy, 
good-natured, and hospitable. 

For the second time in their lives our explor- 
ers celebrated the Fourth of July in a cool place. 
They rolled huge stones down the cliffs, which 
made a noise louder than any fire-crackers or a 
cannon. They ate and drank as if it were a holi- 
day at home. 

One day an English whaling vessel called at 
the port and gave our party a generous present of 
newspapers, turnips, potatoes, eggs, and fresh beef. 
While these were things they had not seen for 



OFF FOR HOME 247 

many months, they almost forgot them in their 
delight at the sight of English faces and the sound 
of the English language. 

Proceeding to Upernavik, they were given 
another warm welcome by the governor there, 
and felt that they were once more in touch with 
their own world. 

The governor of Upernavik lived in a very odd 
house with a high gable and a red roof. Two 
other houses and a steepled church made the port 
seem like a city to the men. When they saw the 
governor's garden their delight was boundless. 
This garden was ten feet square and covered with 
glass! By scraping away the frost from the glass 
one could. see real radishes and turnip tops be- 
neath! 

The governor's daughters, in dresses made of 
cloth, tried hard to entertain the men. They 
could not understand the English language, but 
their knowledge of the common courtesies of life 
was a perfect joy to men who had not seen a 
home for more than a year. They hardly knew 
how to act when they saw the supper table cov- 
ered with a white cloth and bearing clean dishes 
filled with coffee, eggs, and brown bread. And 
when on their return trip, as a crowning act of 



248 ELISHA KENT KANE 

hospitality, ten radishes were brought in '' on the 
bottom of a blue saucer — crisp, pale, yet blushing 
at their tips," the men thought them food fit for 
the gods. 

After days of refitting, cheered by letters from 
home, which the men sat up all night to read, the 
ships' prows were again turned toward the north. 
The summer was now full upon them, and if any- 
thing was to be done it must be done at once. 
But August found them still aimlessly floating, 
waiting for a break in the pack ice, which never 
came, and so they reluctantly turned toward home. 
They called upon their friends at Upernavik, and 
in September found themselves once more in New 
York harbor, where Mr. Grinnell was the first to 
bid them welcome as they touched the wharf. 



CHAPTER XII 

PLANS FOR A NEW EXPEDITION 

Sir John Franklin had not been found, and Dr. 
Kane believed there was still a chance for his life. 
He thought that, though shipwrecked, the party 
might have escaped to some settlement of Eski- 
mos, where they were still awaiting deliverance. 



PLANS FOR A NEW EXPEDITION 249 

Dr. Kane believed that there was an open polar 
sea, into which the Gulf Stream deposited the ma- 
terial it ever carries toward that dreary region, 
and where millions of birds nested and lived. He 
dreamed of it by night, while every day he was 
writing, lecturing, petitioning, bending every nerve 
toward the fitting out of a new expedition. 

In December, 1852, the longed-for order came. 
Mr. Grinnell had put the ''Advance" at his disposal; 
Mr. Peabody and other friends and organizations 
had furnished the outfit; and the Secretary of the 
Navy had detailed men, and supplied instruments 
for observations. Dr. Kane's plan was to sail as 
far north as possible, then to leave the brig and 
to continue the search by land, traveling on dog 
sledges. He thought there were animals enough 
for food, and that the Eskimos would help them 
in case they needed help. 

Eighteen men were his companions, two of 
whom had been north before. From these men 
he exacted three things: first, there should be 
absolute obedience; second, no one should use 
liquor; third, there should be no swearing. Swiftly 
the sledges, tents, boards, clothes, knives, beads, 
books, instruments, and food were stowed away in 
the strong little ''Advance." The preparations were 



250 ELISHA KENT KANE 

quickly made, but not so carefully as they should 
have been for such a journey. 

They sailed in May, 1853, hoping to reach a 
point very far north before winter came on. The 
governor at St. John's gave Dr. Kane a fine team 
of Newfoundland dogs, which, with the help of 
their Eskimo dogs, they hoped would carry them 
safely over the ice. 

The Eskimo dogs were strange animals. They 
looked more like wolves than dogs, and were very 
wild and fierce. They would eat anything even, 
a feather bed. They ate a huge bird's-nest one 
day, ''sticks, dirt, stones, moss, and all." They 
would not sleep in the dog-houses built for them, 
but lay close to the ship on the ice. Every day all 
the dogs would sit down in a circle on the ice and 
seem to hold an important consultation; they 
never barked. 

When traveling, the dogs were fastened to a 
sledge by long leather thongs; the driver guided 
them by cracking a long whip. It took a great 
deal of practice to crack this whip close by the 
right dog. There were forty-one of these dogs in 
all. One was called Old Grim. He was always 
in sight when there was anything to eat, and 
always out of sight when there was anything 



PLANS FOR A NEW EXPEDITION 



251 



to do. One day the sledge was brought out. Old 
Grim saw it and hid in a barrel. He was dragged 
out, but suddenly pretended to be lame, and 




AN ESKIMO DOG TEAM 



always limped after that except when the team 
was safely away on a journey. One day he was 
tied with a rope and made to help on a sledge, but 
he broke away, disappeared, and could never be 
found again. 



252 ELISHA KENT KANE 

The Newfoundland dogs were noble fellows, 
and made all the trips within sixty miles of the 
ship. They were so strong they could draw 
very heavy loads, and when they fell ill they were 
taken into the cabin and cared for as if they were 
children. But it was of no use. All the New- 
foundland dogs died, and all but six of the 
Eskimo dogs, before the winter was over. 



CHAPTER XIII 
JOURNEYING BY LAND AND SEA 

The dog sledges used in the Arctic regions are 
most carefully built. The natives use bones for 
the framework, but Dr. Kane's men used wood 
fastened together with strips of sealskin. When 
the dogs were ill the men drew the sledges. 

Each man had a "rueraddy"; this was a strap 
which passed over one shoulder and under the 
other arm, to which a long rope was fastened, and 
by which they drew the sledge. These ropes were 
of different lengths, so that the men could run 
behind one another.. 

Elaborate preparations were made for the first 
journeys from the ship. Tents, blankets, India- 



JOURNEYING BY LAND AND SEA 253 

rubber cloth, camp kettles, and several kinds of 
food were loaded upon the sledges. But later on 
Dr. Kane carried only slabs of frozen meat for 
food, and a fur sleeping-bag for comfort. 

In the meanwhile the ''Advance" bumped her 
way through fields of ice, was fastened to and 
drawn by icebergs, passed the cliffs of crimson 
snow, weathered terrific gales, and proceeded in 
much the same manner as upon the former expe- 
dition. Winter began to close down early in Sep- 
tember, and the explorers set to work on their 
winter quarters. They built an observatory of 
rocks, cemented with ice and frozen moss. They 
erected pedestals of snow and ice for their instru- 
ments, set their tide register, and built a house 
for their thermometers. 

This little house was built of wood, bored full 
of holes, so the air could enter freely, while 
wooden screens were set up to keep out strong 
winds and drifting snow. A pane of glass was 
placed so that the thermometer could be read 
without going into the little house. These ther- 
mometers were so fine that if a man came near 
them the liquid in the tubes would instantly rise. 

When everything was made snug, and before 
the winter's darkness settled upon them. Dr. Kane 



254 ELISHA KENT KANE 

planned to make many journeys from the ship, 
carrying food to be cached on the ice in prepara- 
tion for the great sledge journey to the far north 
as soon as daylight should again come in the 
spring. This plan was carried out as far as pos- 
sible, but it was hard work. Trotting behind 
sledges, urging on tired dogs, pulling the loads 
out of water, sleeping in wet and frozen clothes, 
going without fire to save alcohol, and without 
food in order to leave enough at the caches — 
such labors and trials were enough to kill the men. 

One of the most terrible of these journeys was 
made in March. The men had set off bravely, 
cheering as they ran, and drawing a heavy sledge- 
load of food to cache as far north as they could 
possibly go. Upon their return the exploring and 
searching party was to set out. Ten days later, 
as the men on the brig were busily at work, three 
of the brave party came in. They were suffering 
horribly; their faces were swollen, their feet 
frozen, and their minds wandering. They said 
that the rest of the party were probably frozen to 
death. They had been forced to leave them in the 
drifting snow, and to return to the brig for help. 

Some of the men flew for food, while others 
prepared a sledge with food and furs, and laying 



JOURNEYING BY LAND AND SEA 255 

the least injured of the men on a sledge to act 
as guide, the relief party hurried to the rescue. 
Twenty-one hours later they saw a little American 
flag fluttering from a snow-drift. Under the snow- 
drift was the tent, and in the tent lay the men, 
frozen but still alive. How they cried when Dr. 
Kane and his party broke into the tent! They 
must be moved at once or die. 

With the thermometer seventy-five degrees 
below zero, the frozen men were sewed into bags 
of deerskin, and screaming with agony, were 
lifted upon the sledges. Then all set out for the 
brig, climbing over the hummocks or struggling 
around them as best they could. Strength failed; 
the cold was unbearable, and the men begged to 
sleep. Dr. Kane did all in his power to keep 
them awake; he struck them, made fun of them, 
and abused them; but sleep they would, even if it 
meant death. They were too cold to build a fire. 
Whisky which had been packed under all the furs 
was frozen to a lump of ice. But strangely enough 
this dreaded sleep refreshed them. 

Dr. Kane and a man named Godfrey pushed on 
to the half-way tent to get some food ready for 
the rest of the party. In their absence the tent 
had been overturned by a bear. When it was 



256 ELISHA KENT KANE 

finally raised again, the two men fell to the ground 
and slept for hours. Dr. Kane's whiskers froze 
to his sleeping-bag, and when he awoke he had to 
be cut loose. But the soup was ready for the 
others when they came up. 

The men were rested by being allowed to sleep 
two minutes at a time in turn. Their thirst was 
horrible, and they were forced to eat snow. Their 
mouths swelled so they could not speak, and they 
were all delirious. No one seems to know how they 
reached the vessel, but they were all alive, though 
one was blind, and two had lost their toes. Two 
of them died two days later. 



CHAPTER XIV 

A VISIT FROM ESKIMOS 

Almost as trying as these dreadful trips were 
the long days in the stuffy cabin, where in one 
tiny room the men cooked, ate, slept, sewed, made 
shoes, cared for the dogs, were ill, and even died. 
There was no daylight. In October the moon 
slowly swung around the entire horizon, shining 
clear and bright for many days, if one could call 
it day. When the moon was gone came darkness 



A VISIT FROM ESKIMOS 



257 



SO deep that one could not count the fingers held 
before the face. For one hundred and forty-one 
days this lasted. 

The time was filled in various ways. Obser- 




MEETING THE ESKIMOS 



vations were taken, keeping the hand covered with 
chamois skins so that it would not freeze to the 
instruments. Newspapers were written and read, 
plays enacted, games invented, and races run. 
On the 2ist of January the first tint of sunlight 



258 ELISHA KENT KANE 

appeared on the horizon, and by March there was 
too much day, just as there had before been too 
much night. Following De Haven's example, the 
hours were regularly assigned for work. The fire- 
wood was weighed daily, and the men worked 
hard to keep enough ice thawed to make drinking- 
water. The lamp oil was gone, and a bit of cotton 
pulled through a cork floating on a saucer of pork 
fat was their lamp. Food was frozen and becom- 
ing scarce. 

The men were unable to walk, and must have 
fresh meat or die. There were no bears or seals, 
but an occasional fox could be caught. One poor 
little fellow had freed himself from his rock trap, 
but was frozen to the ground by his own breath 
and whiskers while burrowing his way to freedom. 
He made a fine supper for the hungry men. 

One day the Eskimos appeared beside the 
brig. They had several dogs and sledges with 
them. They were not in the least afraid of the 
men, and laughed and talked while they stole 
whatever they could lay their hands on. 

Some queer stories which these people told are 
very interesting. They said there once was an 
Eskimo woman who had some deformed chil- 
dren. She put these children into a shoe, and 



A VISIT FROM ESKIMOS 259 

threw the shoe into the sea. The shoe grew into 
a ship, and the children became the white people, 
awful to see. They thought white cloth was the 
skin of these people, and that they lived on dry 
musk-ox meat. 

The Eskimos tell this story of the sun and moon: 
The sun was once a lovely Eskimo girl, and the 
moon was her lover. During the long winter he 
came to see her. It was so dark she could not see 
who it was, for the lamp in the hut had gone out. 
She put her hand in the lampblack and touched his 
face. When the day came she found the man was 
her brother. She ran away; he followed her over 
land and sea. She sprang into the sky; he leaped 
after, and has been following her ever since. 
When the sun is eclipsed by the moon, they say 
the brother has caught his sister, and the lamp- 
black is still on his face. 

The Eskimo god is a man who lives in a 
great stone castle in the sea. This castle is very 
wonderful, and there are always kettles of whale 
and walrus cooking for good Eskimos who go 
there, while the bad go to a place where there is 
no food. When the Eskimo dies he goes to one 
of these two places, and his spears and knives are 
buried with him, so that he may help in the hunt- 



26o ELISHA KENT KANE 

ing. His friends put out the fire in his hut and 
pull the fur hood over their heads in sign of 
mourning. If they cry, every one near them must 
cry too. He is buried by covering his body with 
huge blocks of ice, and pouring water over the 
blocks to freeze into a solid mass. 



CHAPTER XV 
ANOTHER ARCTIC WINTER 

The winter passed at last. July came and the 
"Advance" was still fast in the ice. The explorers 
decided to try to reach the English squadron, 
which they knew must be south of them, and get 
fresh supplies, to use in case they should be forced 
to remain another winter in the ice. 

Dr. Kane felt he could not and would not de- 
sert the ship so early in the season. He took five 
men with him and started out. They carried a 
boat mounted on a sledge. His plan was to cross 
the ice to open water, launch the boat, push 
through the ice, secure supplies, and return. 

After a fearful struggle with the ice the party 
were forced to turn back. They reached the ship 




FAST IN THE ICE 



262 ELISHA KENT KANE 

safely with the awful feeling that they would prob- 
ably have to pass another winter in the ice. New 
ice was already forming, and the poor little Arctic 
plants were withered and dead. 

Knowing they could go no farther north, the 
explorers marked the spot by painting the name of 
the vessel, ''Advance," in huge letters on the face of 
a great rock. Under the name they placed the 
date, '' 1853-1854." Then they dug a hole in the 
rock, in which they put a bottle. In the bottle was 
a brief record of what they had done, and a list of 
the men in the party. 

The men were then called into the cabin, and 
plans for the future discussed. Should they go or 
stay? Eight decided to stay by the ship; the 
rest wished to try to reach the Greenland settle- 
ments over the ice, and so to return home. 

The stores were carefully divided, and the de- 
parting men given as good an outfit as possible, 
and a written assurance that if they failed and 
came back to the ship they would be welcome. 
They started away bravely and cheerily, dragging 
their sledges behind them. 

As soon as this home party had left, those who 
remained were sadder than ever. Death seemed 
to stare them in the face, but they must do their 



ANOTHER ARCTIC WINTER 263 

best to ward it off. The sledges were taken out, 
and the men worked in the fearful cold quarrying 
out square frozen chunks of moss, dirt, grass, and 
sticks to cover the inside and outside of the cabin, 
and so keep out the cold. The floor of the cabin 
was covered with a plaster-of- Paris paste and oak- 
um, over which canvas was spread. The outside of 
the brig was banked high with snow. A low moss- 
lined tunnel formed the entrance. The opening 
into this tunnel was covered with many thick- 
nesses of curtains and skins. 

From this place, which was almost like an 
Eskimo's hut, journeys were made to the filthy 
village of Etah, many miles over the ice. The 
people in the village received our men with the 
utmost hospitality, and although they had not 
much food themselves, they divided with Dr. 
Kane and his men. 

There was now no fuel left, and what wood 
they burned was pulled from the sides of the brig. 
Daylight was leaving them, and the men's spirits 
fell as the sun dropped below the horizon. They 
were so gaunt and bony, and so racked with hor- 
rid diseases, that they could do no work. There 
were but twelve potatoes left, which were scraped 
and fed by the teaspoonful to the men most in 



264 ELISHA KENT KANE 

need of them. To add to their distress, the men 
who had left the ship returned, fainting with 
hunger, frozen, and ill. 

One day Dr. Kane found a boar's head, which 
had been put away as a specimen. It was cooked, 
and the meat from it kept the sick men alive for 
several days. Hemp hawsers were burned to save 
wood, but the smoke from them injured the lungs. 
Manila ropes were used, but they burned too 
fast. 

In spite of the danger of leaving the sick. Dr. 
Kane decided that he must get fresh food. Off he 
started with his Eskimo boy, Hans. When only 
fourteen miles away they were forced to crawl 
into a deserted hut, close the door with blocks of 
ice, and lie for hours, listening to the whirl and 
rush of a snow-storm. They lunched from the raw 
hind leg of a fox, drank coffee, slept, and woke 
again. Floundering out, they plunged along a 
short distance, until poor Hans, usually brave and 
plucky, began to cry like a child. 

It was still forty-six miles to the nearest settle- 
ment, and the journey had to be abandoned. Re- 
turning to the ship, they found the men no better. 
At last one of the hunters came in with a rein- 
deer. Not one atom of it was thrown away. 



THE "ADVANCE" LEFT IN THE ICE 265 

From horns to hoofs it was eaten up. A day or 
so later rabbits began to appear, and with the 
fresh food a Httle courage returned. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE ''ADVANCE" LEFT IN THE ICE 

The long night finally drew toward its close, 
and daylight began to appear. The ship, which 
was still water tight, though much of her timber 
had been used for fire-wood, must now be given 
up. It was decided to make one final exploration 
over the ice, then abandon the search, and arrange 
for a homeward journey by sledges and small 
boats. 

Dr. Kane induced the natives to carry him on 
this journey on their sledges. The floor of the 
sledge was made of slabs of frozen meat, across 
which the guns were laid, and the whole covered 
with a bearskin. When food was needed the 
men turned the sledge up side down and chopped 
off some of the meat floor of the sledge with an 
ax. 

After exploring the ice in various directions, 



266 ELISHA KENT KANE 

climbing the highest icebergs and glaciers to 
search for traces of life, and finding none, the 
party returned to the vessel and began active 
preparations for the homeward journey. The 
men set to work with fresh vigor. Moccasins 
and boots were made, sleeping and provision bags 
were prepared of canvas, curtains, blankets, and 
skins. 

They still had flour. Bread was baked, pounded 
to crumbs, and packed into the bags, which had 
been covered with pitch and tar to keep out the 
water. Other bags were filled with tallow and 
pork fat and bean soup frozen into solid chunks. 

Three poor boats, one of which was to be used 
for firewood, were mounted on sledges. The 
precious instruments, and more precious food, 
were carefully stored away. Guns were distrib- 
uted, cooking-pans fastened in place, and the sul- 
len, discontented men unwillingly slipped their 
rueraddies over their heads, and on the 17th of 
May started from the stanch but dismantled 
little vessel. 

Since there were only men enough to move 
the boats one at a time a mile a day, many trips 
had to be made back and forth to the ship, with a 
night's rest and a supper between each trip. When 



HOME AGAIN 267 

the time came for the last trip the men gathered 
for prayers, and then leaving the ''Advance" to 
her fate in the ice, they sadly turned away to face 
thirteen hundred miles of suffering and privation. 



CHAPTER XVII 

HOME AGAIN 

In due time they reached Etah, where the in- 
habitants were living a gypsy life out of doors, 
though the thermometer stood at five degrees 
below zero. Screaming and yelling, eating raw 
birds, and tumbling over each other like puppies, 
these people were disgusting but hospitable. 

For six hundred miles from Etah the road over 
the ice was well known. Snowstorms blocked 
their path, the dogs sickened and died, the ice 
began to soften. The men were snow-blind, and 
great masses of ice and rocks fell in unending din 
and danger all about them. Every sign pointed 
to open water. Again and again the sledges 
broke through the ice, and landed men and dogs 
alike, together with the precious journals, in the 
icy water. 

At last the long journey was completed. The 



268 



ELISHA KENT KANE 



Eskimo guides were given presents of soap, knives, 
files, and saws, and weeping and wailing and 
wiping their dirty faces on bird-skin handker- 
chiefs they returned homeward. Our explorers 
launched their boats, and with all flags thrown to 
the breeze, began their water journey. 

A fearful gale delayed them, 
ice closed about the boats, the 
food supply grew very low, but 
they weathered all the storms, 
and after one or two stops 
where birds were thick or a 
seal was caught, they struggled 
bravely on. 

On the I St of August the 
glad cry of land was heard, 
and when as they approached 
the coast an oil-boat was seen 



i* 



k 



ESKIMO AND SLEDGE 



HOME AGAIN 269 

and recognized, the men broke down, and cried 
and called and raved as if they had gone 
mad. 

The sailors on the oil-boat told them that 
traces of Franklin's party had been discovered a 
thousand miles south of where they had been. 

At Upernavik they took a ship for home, carry- 
ing with them nothing but their little boat, the 
"Faith," their journals, and the ragged clothes 
on their backs. Touching at Godhaven, they 
were surprised to see a steamer bearing the stars 
and stripes head into the harbor. Quickly the 
''Faith" was again launched, the Grinnell flag, 
which had been carried to the far south and the 
far north, floating above her. The men rowed 
out with a will, followed by all the boats of the 
settlement. 

It was Captain Hartstene's expedition sent to 
rescue them. The question rang out loud and 
clear: ''Is that Dr. Kane?" 

"Yes"; and the men swarming to the rigging, 
cheered them to the echo. 

So, after two years Dr. Kane returned to New 
York, to his family, and to the friend whose pic- 
ture he had carried on his shoulders through all 
those dreary months. Ill, unpaid, and harassed, 



270 ELISHA KENT KANE 

he soon left for England to see Lady Franklin, 
and to build up his shattered health. 

Honors were now showered upon Dr. Kane. 
Great and learned men could not do enough to 
show him their admiration and respect, but disease 
had taken fast hold upon him. 

Fleeing from English fogs Dr. Kane sailed to 
Cuba, hoping its mild climate would benefit him. 
His mother and brothers joined him in Havana, 
and one day while listening quietly to the reading 
of the Bible, which had been his constant com- 
panion through all his journeys, he slipped silently 
away to the land from which no traveler returns. 

The removal of his body to his home in Phila- 
delphia was one long series of sad ovations. All 
the cities from Havana to Philadelphia vied with 
one another to honor this man who had risked so 
much for science and humanity. 

Would you ask what Dr. Kane accomplished? 
One glance at the great volumes of observations 
of tides and weather and climate and ice structure 
proves how faithful and persistent he was. His 
study of animals, birds, plants, and human customs 
shows how carefully observant he was. The maps 
he drew, the result of thousands of miles of travel 
by sea and land, on foot, by sledges, and by boat, 



HOME AGAIN 271 

Illustrate his deep interest in science. His unwav- 
ering devotion to the search for Sir John Franklin 
and his party proves his unfailing love for humanity. 
Dr. Kane exemplified in his life what courage, 
fortitude, patience, and good sense can do in the 
face of the severest trials, and we honor him as 
much for what he was as for what he did. Scores 
of other men have risked and lost their lives in 
those dreary seas, whose secret has not yet been 
discovered, but not one of them all has given 
greater proof of his worth as a man than did 
Elisha Kent Kane. 



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